For #entrepreneurs, there is so much business advice that you need to filter through, as not everything is right for you and the business you build.
One piece of advice I discounted, choosing not to follow early on (from someone I hugely respect) was to call my business "Lisa Thomson HR", as my personal skills and reputation was what I'd be trading on. Instead, I wanted to build a brand that would grow with the business and later team.
The name I chose, Purpose HR, was twofold - highlighting 'fit for purpose' HR advice and solutions, tailored to size & stage needs of our clients, but - 💥most importantly💥 - I wanted to build a #purposedriven culture, help clients build inclusive, diverse, engaging working practices and teams - about more than HR legal compliance.
The initial logo and website were built on a shoestring but later thanks to support from Scottish Enterprise I was able to hire inhouse #marketing support. As with HR, its important to invest in #expert marketing skills & experience. Our later website and re-branding project was excellently led at the time by Linda Stein 🙏, developing messaging, branding & social media to showcase our niche services, client focus, wider team, and importantly, our #values - of #Trust, #Empathy and #Equality. We chose bright, warm colours, smiling friendly welcoming images of our team, and a focus on client case studies and stories.
Some thoughts & tips:
📍Spend time researching the market, your competitors, and messaging but don't feel you need to follow trends. Sometimes this is more about identifying what aspects to differentiate from.
📍Test ideas and assumptions before launching - speak to as many clients or potential targets as possible to get feedback and insights (as well as of course your team!)
📍Invest if possible in expertise as fully as you can to embed brand consistency right through all your messaging, documents and details.
📍Your brand should be meaningful and help you tell a story - this is really important when it comes to selling to potential clients.
📍Showcase your values and highlight how these in practice help your business and team deliver for clients.
📍Reinforce these messages through social media & online presence and encourage your team to engage too, to showcase the wider breadth of skills and expertise they bring.
As an entrepreneur you wear many hats and learn skills across disciplines - marketing, branding and particularly social media were areas I developed passion and great respect for.
Every business journey is different but these are some tips and learning that worked for me in profitably growing my HR services business to exit.
⁉️I'd love to hear thoughts or questions below!⁉️
Next up I'll cover #Services - please make sure to connect with me or follow to see the posts and if you find the content helpful I'd appreciate a Like or Share 🙏
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