I cannot tell you how many times someone has told me they’re starting a business and then show me a logo idea and a color scheme.
A logo is not where you want to begin. I promise. Don’t get me wrong; logos are fun but far less important than people think.
OK, Todd! So, where DO we start?
Glad you asked!
I recommend spending some time writing out three things:
Let’s take a quick look at each and why they’re essential to your business.
Your mission statement is a summary of your business. Think about it like a written snapshot. It should describe who you are, what you do, and for who. You can add more like who and why. This statement is vital for several reasons. Mainly, it’s going to help you identify your target audience or create an avatar client. Being clear in your mission will also help avoid confusion among potential customers, which is always a good thing.
Your vision statement is where your business is going. It should invoke a sense of inspiration and motivate people. A good vision makes me almost start to daydream about possibilities. Where do you see your company in five, ten, one-hundred years? What has it accomplished? Who has it helped? How did it solve problems?
Your core values or guiding principles are the most critical piece in making decisions. Your values are the beliefs that you unapologetically believe and stand by. Without them, I’d argue, it’s impossible to be effective at decision-making. You will undoubtedly be inconsistent. Your customers, your employees, and even yourself will become confused. You must be crystal clear and unrelenting when it comes to standing by your values. For us at Hello, our values are non-negotiable, and we’ve decided against some opportunities that would’ve made us money, but one of our principles is integrity. Get it?
I’d love to hear about your business and share more with you if you have this stuff laid out. If not, reach out, and let’s chat about getting this stuff working for you.
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Also, at the time of writing this, we’ve launched “the Hello Hair Pro podcast,” which you can find on Spotify, Apple Podcast, Amazon Music, Stitcher, and (soon) Google podcasts.
I’ll also embed a player below.
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HELLO HAIR CO. is a collective originated as an idea to give stylists and barbers a place to come together, find inspiration, be creative, and feel supported by community.