Many new entrepreneurs fear that specializing their business will limit the pool of potential clients they could work with. They enter the market trying to be everything to everyone — appealing to every demographic and meeting every cost expectation. Sometimes they use a more established business as an example, thinking they must launch at the same scale and compete. This is generalizing. The reality is that generalizing positions your small business to compete against businesses that have already filled a market need and have already earned a loyal following.

In marketing, there is a single document that unites all of your vendors in planning new communication strategies and becomes the directive for what your advertising needs to do. It combines information about consumer behavior, your target market, your product, its position in the marketplace, and your product’s future goals. This document is known as a Project Brief.

How many times have you walked into a wine shop and thought, how different could these 25 different $10 red blends really be? Then, how often do you default to choosing a bottle based on the label you liked? When it comes to discerning similar products and services, people turn to design to guide their decisions.

Sometimes new business owners get so excited to have a logo, they commission a designer before they’ve defined their business. But before your designer can create a custom, visual representation of your brand ideals, you have to know what they are. You may not have a full business plan written, but to avoid making a vanity purchase, we recommend beginning with a solid Positioning Statement.