BRANDING A GROWN-UP SERVICE BUSINESS? NAIL THESE 5 THINGS FOR MAXIMUM IMPACT

5 min readJun 23, 2022

Your passion led you to start your business. Over the years, you kept honing it and kept tweaking, perfecting, and solidifying. And now, with over 3–5 years of experience running a service-based business under your belt, you have a grown-up business that looks a lot different than the one you started with.

Does that sound familiar?

If yes, this blog post is perfect for you because as a brand consultant for creatives I am pretty sure that the thought of branding your grown-up business to make it more cohesive has crossed your mind (several times!) and if not, it definitely will sooner rather than later. In which case, I want to prepare you so that you head into the creative branding process with the knowledge and clarity so that you end up with a strategic, meaningful brand identity and website design that encompasses your business essence making it timeless, impactful, and most importantly — super profitable!

1. YOUR BUSINESS NAME

This is an interesting one! At times, service professionals just throw things together including a business name in order to get started with it. When you step into branding your service business officially, it is the perfect time to relook into your business name. Does it still feel aligned and meaningful as per your present-day business? If yes, that’s perfect! There are pros to retaining the name because there is a good chance that your clients know your business by that name. But at times you have truly outgrown your old business name and you’re looking for a more meaningful fresh start before legally investing in the name like registering as an LLC, getting a trademark, etc. If that’s the case, then take the opportunity to discuss this topic of naming with your brand consultant to get expert guidance around it.

Having said that, there is no right or wrong here. Business naming is a personal choice so go with what feels aligned and be confident with your decision because the name will be a huge part of your brand identity for the years to come.

2. YOUR OFFERINGS

As you are branding or rebranding your service business, one of your goals is to become more profitable. For that, having clearly defined offerings, services, and packages is an absolute must before you invest thousands of dollars leveling up your brand. As a brand designer for creatives, my process includes studying the packages/offerings that my client is putting out so that the branding, messaging and website design are fully equipped to attract the ideal audience to the signature offerings.

Without having clearly defined offerings, your shiny new branding and a pretty website would not convert. So let’s nail down the offerings so that a cohesive brand and website helps you sell your signature offerings over and over leading to a super profitable business!

3. YOUR UNIQUE POSITIONING

Next on the list to nail down is a unique positioning for your business. In this noisy world, you bet there are hundreds of professionals doing the same work as you are but everyone has that special sauce that makes them totally unique. I like to call this “The Onliness Factor” which I strategically discover in a brand strategy workshop that I host during my brand and website design process.

Once your brand designer is able to discover your unique positioning in a competitive market, that is what your brand will be built around. All the brand communication and the visual identity will revolve around that unique position that will make your business truly stand out and that’s how you will attract your most ideal clientele!

4. YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE

Do you think that the audience you started serving and the one that your business has grown to serve are the same? You know the answer — it’s not the same. As a brand designer, when I first started, I worked with all sorts of small businesses but since I have niched down to serve only creative service-based businesses including interior designers, copywriters, consultants, and coaches. That is because my offerings fit very well with the needs of this segment of the audience. I’m sure you have a similar story where the target audience you now serve after years of being in business looks very different from when you first started.

So it’s key to nail the perfect target audience for your grown-up business which again your brand consultant will help you uncover and solidify. And your new leveled-up brand will be designed to attract and convert this very ideal segment of audiences.

5. YOUR FUTURE VISION

One final thing but an equally important one is future business visioning! Being creative visionaries, this comes very naturally to us. So let’s get intentional with this and whatever you envision the future of your creative service business to be, make sure those plans get included in your branding/rebranding process. After all, designing a brand around a 2 year, 5 years, and 10 years plan will make your brand timeless. It might take you some time to mull this over but remember — the broader you’re able to think now in terms of where you want to take your brand in the time to come, you’re reducing the chances to have to rebrand again!

As a brand designer for creatives, I have a mantra — “Do it once, do it right” which is why this exercise is so important for my clients and me when they’re investing in a complete branding experience.

CONCLUSION

Branding is that crucial step that you take to move your business to the next level in terms of scale, reach, and profitability. So being guided on this journey will help you stay aware of what goes in the process, what to expect, and how to have the maximum impact when you do decide to take that step for your service business. To learn more about my process and how I can help your service business get to the next level, schedule your free discovery call. Good luck!