The branding mistake first-time founders make that can hurt sales (and how to avoid it)

There’s a common, and expensive, mistake I’ve seen many founders make when it comes to their branding. 

They have a great idea and are eager to get it out into the world, so one of the first things they do is commission a logo. Soon after, they have a corresponding colour palette, font and maybe even a sleek new website. It looks the part, but traction doesn’t follow. Sales are slow and feedback suggests customers don't quite understand what the business does or why it's for them. 

The issue isn’t the design itself. It’s that the branding was built before there was clarity on what it needed to communicate. Whether it’s a year down the track or three, many founders will find themselves needing to rebrand. In most cases, it’s entirely avoidable with the right thinking upfront.

Branding is more than aesthetics, it’s a business lever

A survey by 99designs by Vista revealed that 86% of small business owners see branding as critical to their success. What’s more, 78% say it plays a major role in increasing their revenue, highlighting that visual identity is a powerful contributor to both business performance and growth.

This is because branding goes much deeper than just a great logo (although that is important).  It’s a creative and strategic process that visually communicates who you are, what you do, what you value and how you’re different from everyone else in your space. 

Consumers today place a higher premium on authenticity and human connection, driven by an uncertain landscape and growing scepticism toward businesses that feel impersonal or inconsistent. As trust becomes harder to earn, people gravitate toward businesses that feel clear, consistent and aligned with their values. Branding is often the first signal of credibility, but when it’s inconsistent or poorly considered, it can quickly create doubt. 

For early-stage founders, that first impression matters. Without existing awareness, every touchpoint of your brand has to work harder to build recognition and confidence from scratch. And getting this right from the start is the difference between being overlooked and building a brand that supports long-term growth.

The three questions every founder should answer before branding

After working with founders at every stage of growth, I've found that most branding problems trace back to the same root cause: a thin brief. Not because founders lack attention to detail, but because nobody has clearly explained what information is actually needed to craft an effective brand. So, before you spend a penny on design, you should be able to answer these three simple, but powerful, questions clearly.

• Who, specifically, is this for? The keyword here is ‘specifically.’ Avoid broad, sweeping statements like "anyone who needs an invoicing solution” and go beyond basic demographics. Your brand needs to resonate with a real person with specific tastes, needs and preferences, so you need to know in detail what they care about, how they make decisions, what they value and what influences them.

• What do you do differently? Where are you positioned in comparison to your competitors? What problem are you solving for customers? From your pricing, knowledge and product intricacies to your brand values, business story and customer service, this is about articulating why someone should choose you over the alternatives.  

• What do you want people to feel? Brand personality is often treated as a soft concept, but it has real commercial impact. Typography, colour palette, and tone of voice all trigger specific associations and emotional responses (there’s a whole science to it!). Ask yourself, if your brand were a person, how would they act and communicate? Would they feel authoritative or approachable, playful or premium? This emotional direction is what designers translate into visuals.

Graphic designers aren’t mind readers, but they are expert interpreters. They understand people, products, industries and how to translate business context into a visual identity that attracts, converts and builds trust with customers. You understand your business, so the more information you can give them upfront, the more effectively they can bring it to life in a brand.

The best design starts before you talk to a designer

This isn’t an argument against investing in great design early—rather the opposite. Good design is one of the most powerful business tools a founder has, especially when competing against more established players. But design works hardest when it has something solid to express. The founders I've seen build the most resilient, recognisable brands are the ones who did the strategic groundwork first and then brought in the creative talent to bring it to life.

So before you write the design brief, take the time to write the positioning brief. Get clear on who you're for, what makes you different and what you want people to feel. This groundwork is your key to success. When you give designers real insight into your business, they can create something far more than a visual identity, they can build a brand people understand, trust and come back to.

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