personal brand vs a business
Are you feeling confused whether to present yourself as a personal brand or business brand? Have you been using your name as your business but not really sure what your personal brand actually stands for?
The importance of knowing what type of brand you are.
Before launching a brand or online business it’s important to start on the right foot, and provide your community with the best first impression. When I first started I made some mistakes, I couldn’t decide between using my own name or using a brand name ‘unmilaya’. This had a knock on effect and has taken me a while to build engagement as my communication was confusing. I really do believe it’s important to have a strong understanding of how you want to present yourself.
Ultimately for me, I am the business, the designer, the provider so it felt right to change back to using my name. Unmilaya {which means to unfurl or to blossom in sanskrit} is my philosophy. I beleive everyone deserves to unfurl and blossom feeling confident to show up within their business and share there magic to the world. So if you’re working on a business launch, you might have questioned whether a business brand or personal brand will be the best fit.
This is one of the first questions you should be asking yourself and that is deciding what type of brand will best fit your business model, your business goals and aspiration now and in the future. Plus the type of personality you have might also help determine which type of brand is best suited for you. I know that your seeing personal brands everywhere nowadays you can’t go on Instagram without it feel like 100 new small personal businesses have just started and everyone has a side-hustle. Even thought personal branding has increase by ten fold it doesn’t mean that a business brand puts you at an advantage they both have pros and cons.
The differences between a personal and business brand
The main difference between a personal brand and a business brand lies in their foundations. A personal brand is built around you—you are the central focus, encompassing your art, your creation, your personality, style and interests. Typically, your business is named after you in this scenario. Conversely, a business brand is built around an identity crafted specifically for your business, often entailing the creation of a brand name.
The strengths and weakness of a personal brand
A personal brand can be easier for though of us less business minded. We have all the tools to start a personal brand right at our fingertips. It’s super easy nowadays to connect through social media, build a website from a template and purchase a pre-made logo bundle. The other perk to a personal brand is that you have space to be more flexible. Your service or product offerings can evolve, maybe even change without it hurting you brand, and you wont need to change your name. A personal brand can also provide you with a range of speaking opportunities and other collaborations with other personal brands. A personal brand is a perfect fit for solopreneurs, ideal for creatives - artists, photographers, authors, coaches, speakers etc.
Something I’ve found difficult being a personal brand is showing my face online! If you’re more of an introvert like me, it can be daunting to go onto IG stories and talk. Whilst I dont beleive its essentials, its a great way to build and interact with your community. We all have comfort zones and this might be one you’ll have to over come, don’t base you decision purely you don’t want to show your face. Because everything is like a muscle once you slowly start doing it should get easier and better about show up and talking everyday.
Dealing with imposter syndrome can be paralysing. Imposter syndrome is when you feel that your experience and knowledge isn’t good enough and that you’re just a part of a façade. You start to question if you’re even providing useful and real valuable information. This has knock on effect with your personal brand because you’ll slowly quieten your voice and presence online, due to your insecurities and once you start that you can get loss online and loss momentum.
The strengths and weakness of a business brand
A business brand will give you a better sense of who it is, because a business brand isn’t build around you, you’ll need to understand it clear to know exactly how to steer it and the decisions it that I should be making. A business brand means your keeping it separate from you and you technically could leave it in charge without someone else while you go holiday and it could still run without you.
The best perks about a business brand is that it is far easier to sell than a personal brand. If you decide that you want to move on from your business and sell this is easier with a business brand because the brand name will be associated with it’s product rather than the person behind it.
With a business brand it can be harder to build trust with your audience online. Customers are more likely to purchase from people that they know, like and trust. We actually trust people who are like us because we believe they won’t steer us wrong! A business brand has to work hard on find way to be relatable to their audience without having a brand face or name.
Other downfalls with starting a business brand is that it can be harder to build an audience, it’s harder and might take longer for your target audience to connect. Every business has competitors but for business brand it might be consider harder to stand out from the crowd.
A fusion of both brand types
I believe it's entirely acceptable to blend the qualities of personal and business brands. In fact, I'd argue that it's easier to accomplish this now than ever before. You can certainly establish a business brand while concurrently maintaining a connection where you personally engage as the business owner. This approach allows you to gain authority, share your perspectives, and show who you are. Even with a business brand, you can maintain a strong online presence by connecting with your community and engaging with your ideal customers and clients on a personal level.
Don't hesitate to explore what aligns best with you and your small business, keeping in mind what resonates most with your personality. While personal brands may seem like the simpler choice for creatives and entrepreneurs, they still demand significant time, effort, patience, and confidence to forge strong connections with your audience and garner recognition and enthusiasm. Therefore, don't be disheartened if your personal or business brand doesn't skyrocket immediately upon launch, as enduring brands are not built overnight.
