Many Startups are convinced that the only important thing is the validity and uniqueness of the product or service that they offer to the market. Therefore, in the initial business plans, there is no trace of a budget dedicated to communication, marketing and storytelling. 90% of these companies - yes, because now Startups are not only synonymous with guys in the garage, but also with business projects made by people of a certain age - are doomed to a miserable failure even before they are born. In fact, the corporate configuration we are talking about is mainly used to find funds (through Business Angels, Crowdfunding and investors) to bring the prototyped product or service into reality. Even if we present ourselves to a group of investors (like Shark Tank) with a product that will save the world, we will not even be considered without an appropriate presentation of the project. That doesn't mean downloading a nice PowerPoint template from Envato and brutally stuffing random data and images into it. The right path is quite different. In my experience I have taken care of the Branding of various Startups, such as Ai Academy, which deals with Artificial Intelligence applied to BigData and beyond. In a far-sighted way, taking an example from abroad and how these situations and the budgets connected to it are treated, the boys of Ai Academy created a Business Plan that included a specific item (obviously staggered in the phases of company growth) for the Branding and Corporate Communication.
Above you can observe their initial needs (they vary according to the type of Startup and the product / service promoted), a Logo that was unique and built on their needs, a Coordinated Image that distinguished them from competitors and a Template for " Pitch "or presentations that were coordinated with their Brand Identity and had the right slides to showcase their content properly. This example is useful to understand how you can develop your Brand Identity step by step, following the growth needs of the project and its communication with investors and users. In fact, having met with great success with the essential materials, and providing in the Business Plan aimed at investors a budget for the expansion of communication, we then built and designed the remaining elements of communication useful for the subsequent phases of the project, such as the Site Web, other Brand Identity materials useful in customer meetings, and much more.
To conclude, the above example describes a best practice that with dedication and commitment every entrepreneur can achieve, consulting with a professional to understand together what is really necessary and how to divide the project steps, so as to bring them back into the Business Plan to be presented to possible investors. Acting in this way will give you the highest percentage of success by giving a hand to the enhancement of the product / service so as to transmit trust and professionalism to those who have to finance you. Pro Tips, given the huge amount of projects passing on these investors' desks, introducing yourself appropriately also helps to stay ahead and prevent uncomfortable questions that you may not have considered. Header image credits: Unsplash - Dose Media
