The answer is very straight-forward – you.
When the business is tiny or very small, not many people will have the confidence on it. Almost no one, except your spouse, children, cousins and perhaps your parents. The risk is too high for people to simply grab your offer. Most of the potential customers (if any) will run several verification checks on your business first. They will go through your website, your existing customers, your activities on social media, email address, office address and so on. They even Google your company’s name in order to find reasons why they must hire your company. In most cases, what they will find is more answers on why they aren’t supposed to hire your company.
Now imagine this.
Instead of generating leads through your business, why don’t you yourself help to generate leads for your company? Do it through your personal branding. Here is the ultimate reason why. Human being trusts another human being better than things. Therefore, it is more practical to start branding yourself first, put it out there for people to notice and work on generating leads using your name, face and influence. It is extremely crucial for you to build your authority within your industry at this point.
Write things, design great posters or infographics, do impactful videos and get invited to be speakers in conferences. You need to convince one group at a time on why you. Bring their attention to you.
Once you’ve convinced people that you’re the right person to go to as a reference point, it will be easier for you to generate good leads and convert them into paid customers. Then slowly bring your company’s brand out there, tag along with your personal popularity. You need to be in front of your company for as long as the formula works. Bring in revenues to the company. Once the company are well fuelled by revenues, work on its branding strategy. Elevate it up to match with your personal brand.
I must warn you that this is more of a marathon work rather than short-term. As the time goes by, more and more people will start to recognise your company’s achievements, its authority in the industry and start to remember it in their head together with your name alongside it.
