If you are a local business or a sole trader you could be forgiven for thinking that branding is not that important. Even if you do believe in branding, it may come low on your to-do list after the day-to-day tasks that keep your customers happy and keep revenue coming in.

So why do small firms need a brand?

Branding matters – whether you are a tradesman, a professional or run a bar or restaurant. Branding isn’t just about logos, fonts and corporate colour. It’s more about communicating your business personality, uniqueness and its values at that are the core of everything it does. If you were to replace the word “branding” with “reputation” I might get your attention….. You care about your reputation, right?

Branding is all about the impression you make. If you want to succeed, that impression should do two jobs – it should convey what is special about your business and it should show you in a positive light.

Of course, many small businesses make a good impression most of the time without ever giving a thought to their brand. But think how much more successful you would be if you gave a good impression all of the time.

There are two parts to this process. Firstly, you have to decide what you stand for – what your USPs (Unique selling proposition) are, who you are aiming at and how you want to position yourself.

We have work with many local businesses that had a great reputation but had no real branding.

When dreams first started out in business they created their website and branding themselves using template sites. Wanting to take the next step in growing the business we developed a completely new branding and website. Today Cake of your Dreams reputation has gone from strength to strength and is one of the leading Cake makers in Scotland.

Big business branding like Coca–Cola, Nike are great but we’re more interest in the local business…. who is your favourite local brand and why?