When it comes to growing your brand and business, we all have to start SOMEWHERE. 

In this blog post I shared the various phases of business growth and in the first phase – your startup phase – you’re typically establishing your business, conducting market research, crafting your offers, and are really making your initial entry into the market. 

It’s during this time that you have little to no budget for investing, so you’re DIY’ing a wholeeee lot of stuff – including your website and branding (most of the time).

Once you reach that one year mark (and celebrate as you should!), you typically start examining where your business is at and can start prioritizing certain investments. 

It’s around this time that many people decide to work with a professional brand and website designer to build the brand that they’ve always imagined. 

It’s SUCH a fun time of business ownership!

But then eventually, sometimes years down the road, you may start to feel like the brand you first built is no longer connecting. 

Maybe it’s not realistically portraying who you are as a business owner or it’s not reflecting the type of business you’ve grown. 

It’s in this moment that you might consider a rebrand or refresh.

Knowing when to rebrand can be tricky, which is why as a brand designer, I actually have a “checklist style” list to help you clearly make your decision! ✔️

So, if you’re currently in that spot of wondering if your business has outgrown your brand, or you think you might be there soon, keep reading for 7 signs to look out for.

7 Signs Your Business Has Outgrown Your Brand

1.  You aren’t working with or selling to your ideal client. 

One of the first and most evident signs that your business has outgrown your brand is if you aren’t attracting the right people.

Because let’s be real… we all have an idea of the perfect client in our head. We know what they do, what they value, and sometimes even what they look like. 

After all, ideal client avatar work is one of the first things business owners are taught to do!

So if you aren’t reaching those people, there’s a chance your brand isn’t representing your business well and it’s time for a change. 

This actually happened with the famous e-cigarette brand, Juul. They claimed they wanted to help middle aged smokers kick their habit, yet Juul launched a huge marketing campaign inspired by old tobacco ads, using brightly colored branding with teens using the product to increase the “cool factor” 

The only problem with that? Most teens aren’t even old enough to buy the product. Unfortunately, their brand strategy worked, and hooked thousands of kids on this highly addictive vaping product! 

The FDA swooped in and said nope – you can’t market this way. For more on this story, I encourage you to watch The Big Vape documentary.

Talk about an epic brand failure. Although your brand likely isn’t experiencing anything this extreme, it’s still something to consider if you feel like you aren’t reaching your target audience.

2.  People don’t understand what you do.

Picture this: you open Instagram and there’s that lovely red dot that we all love to see in the top right hand corner.

You have a DM! And it’s from someone who could potentially be a great fit for your services. 

But then… they start asking a whole lot of questions about what you do and what you offer and it’s clear that they don’t “get it.”

After a few back and forth messages, they ghost. 👻

Ugh, what gives? It’s likely that your brand messaging isn’t clear. 

Ideally, your website should be able to do the majority of the selling for you in a way that’s clear and concise so people have no question what you do and how it can benefit them. 

And then the only questions you’re left to answer are logistical. 

If you’re running into this issue, it’s a surefire sign your branding needs some work!

3.  Your visual brand is dated.

In the online business world, relevancy and innovation are KEY! When people land on your website or even your social media pages, they want to see updated styles that feel in tune with the current time period. 

For example, you know those infomercials from the 90’s? Wellll, they still exist and if you were to land on their website, you might wonder if it’s a scam and you probably wouldn’t spend much time there. 

That’s the EXACT opposite of how you want people to feel when they see your brand which is why keeping your brand fresh and relevant is so important!

This includes using innovative fonts, designs, imagery, and more.

4.  You’re struggling with growth and scalability. 

Most businesses in the startup phase (years 1-2) tend to experience slow, yet steady growth when it comes to leads, followers, and even paying customers. 

As you start to move into your growth phase (years 2-5), this growth should continue on a healthy basis, but if you’re seeing that your business is actually trending backwards, it could be a sign your brand isn’t resonating and some adjustments need to be made. 

5.  You lack focus. 

Have you ever felt like you’re doing allll the things as a business owner and while “success” might be there in terms of money in your bank account, you constantly feel like you’re just spinning your wheels?

You could be unfulfilled, have no clear mission, say “yes” to every opportunity that comes your way, and ultimately are just lacking laser focus in your business. 

If so, that’s a sign your brand is lacking clear core values and a well defined vision to keep you on track and only doing the things that make the most sense for your business!

In the beginning of your business, it’s normal to feel this way. But as you grow, you should be able to settle into a more relaxed day-to-day and have a crystal clear vision of where you’re going and what you’re doing. 

If that’s not the case for you, it could be time for a brand refresh to get you moving in the right direction!

6.  Your offers have changed and evolved.

As your business grows, it’s normal for your product and service offerings to change.

Sometimes you’ll add new ones, while others will retire and some may actually stay the same, but only get better. 

Either way, as your offers change and evolve, your brand may need to as well! 

For example, let’s say you first started out as a copywriter who offered website copy, sales pages, and content marketing (like blogs and emails).

As you grow and develop a solid client base, you may realize that content marketing is where your joy lies, so you decide to pivot into just offering blog and email writing services. 

Your brand would need to reflect those changes! You’re no longer a general copywriter available for any type of project. You’re a specialized service provider.

7.  Your company is changing and your employees need to understand the updated culture.

Lastly, if you run a company with a team of employees, it’s very common for you to experience a season where your employees simply don’t understand the culture. 

You could be trying so hard to cultivate a certain culture in your business, but your employees may have trouble connecting to that, especially if they’ve been around a while and aren’t used to the change. 

When you find this happening, it’s a sign that your brand needs to be refreshed soEVERYONE can start from a clean slate with a crystal clear idea for the mission, vision, and culture of the company. 

I’ve personally helped various clients through this process and they all happened for various reasons! One was going through a merger, while another underwent new ownership, and another expanded geographically. 

All of these are perfect examples of how the entire culture of the company would be changing and the brand as a whole needed to reflect that!

Ready For A Rebrand?

If you’ve been wondering if your business needs a rebrand or refresh, I hope this list provides you with some clarity!

If you’re still not sure, I can help you make that decision – simply connect here and we’ll talk about your season of business, what challenges you’re experiencing, and can create a plan of action for you specifically. 

If you ARE ready to get started with a rebrand or brand refresh in 2024, I’m currently booking spots for March 2024!

CLICK HERE to inquire!

Need a Full Brand Design?

If you’re still in the startup phase and are simply looking to invest in professional branding for the first time, you’re also in the right place!

With my brand design service, you’ll receive:

• Personalized direct service with a project roadmap for the clearest project communication
• A confidence building brand consultation to pinpoint your messaging, voice and visuals with clarity
• Target audience strategy to attract the actual customers you are trying to reach
• A visual identity (including a guidelines document) to help you nail that first visual impression with your customers
• Aesthetically user-focused design elements to build brand equity and communicate the credibility you deserve
• Brand elevations with your new brand applied to jumpstart your brand launch

CLICK HERE to learn more.

Here’s to making your brand the thing that catapults your business forward this year. 🚀

Your designer friend always,