Your brand is the catalyst that puts you in front of the consumer with a consistent and well thought out message and the one factor that allows you to develop a relationship with them over a period of time.
The ultimate driver for us in becoming relevant in the market and relevant to the community in all of our different and unique businesses was the fact that we had a brand established and that we had people who actually cared about what we were saying and doing.
So what you'll find when you take the long and windy road to being an entrepreneur in your life and as you grow your businesses and build these things from little mom and pop shops to large scale corporations is this:
You can have the greatest product in the world, you can have the greatest idea in the world, you can have the greatest information in the world, you can have your business plan done and all your business information complete, mapped out and on point and you can have the best team in the world, but...
If people don't know what your brand represents and you haven't developed that following or that brand to the public in a way that builds a relationship over time and focuses on the long term game. Then nobody is going to care about you, nobody is going to care about what you do, nobody's going to care about what you say, nobody is going to want to buy anything from you and nobody is going to stand by your products.
Because once you create raving fans, they will buy anything from you and stand by your brand through anything. This is one of the most powerful things you can have behind your brand.
I think one of the most important things that I can tell people who are jumping into a business or the life of the entrepreneur is this: understand your brand, know your brand inside and out, know how to differentiate your brand and know how to tell the consumer what your brand means.
If you can't do that, you'll never make it anywhere, because nobody will know who you are. It's the same thing when you see someone start something new and you tell your friends, they're not very good at that, I can do that better. But they're actually doing it and not just talking about it and because of that, people are actually aware of them doing it, while nobody knows who you are.
So even if you can do it better, you're never going to get there if you don't actually do it and grow it in a way to where the consumer actually feels attached to you and you will definitely never get there if all you do it talk about what you could do or how you could do it better.
Ideas are cheap, execution is gold and your brand is everything!