Reason 1: You’re stuck in perfectionist mode.
I’ve seen this very clearly with working with business owners of all kinds — from those with fledgling businesses to those making 7 figures over the last decade. The ones who are the most successful are almost always NOT perfectionists. As someone who let perfectionism hold her back for YEARS, I understand this deeply. There were so many opportunities I never took or ideas I gave up on and never followed through with because I felt like I wasn’t able to make it perfect.
So yes, on one hand, we want our branding to be perfectly aligned and an embodiment of who we are, but on the other hand, some small improvements or just getting A BRAND up and running (if you are starting from scratch) is better than letting the fear of not getting it right cause you to never launch anything into the world at all. Be gentle and compassionate to yourself. Done is better than perfect. Don’t second guess and judge everything you write and put down on the page.
Reason 2: You don’t have time
This is actually just a belief you’re telling yourself that is getting you stuck. We all have time, 24 hours a day, in fact. It’s how we choose to use it that makes the difference. I told myself I didn’t have the time and space to rebrand my business for AGES. And it wasn’t untrue in some ways. I was the busiest I’d been in my business since my boys were born. But I realised there’s never going to be that magical perfect time when the stars align and suddenly your schedule clears. Not if you are a go-getter that is always trying to make big things happen in your business. You need to MAKE time. Make it a priority and give your business the time and space it deserves to deepen its expression. When I finally made the time I was so glad I did, because I wouldn’t have never created what I ended up with if I kept telling myself that same story.
Reason 3: You don’t know what you want to communicate or who you are
Maybe you don’t quite have clarity yet on what you want to express or you know what you want to express but you don’t know how to bring it to life the way you really crave on your own, so you get overwhelmed. Nothing you do feels quite right. You try to write or design things and you go around in circles. Or you try to hire someone and because you don’t know what you want, they don’t either and the whole thing ends up being a waste of money.
Being intentional about what you create and taking the time and space to discover what wants to come forward in this season of your business has a direct correlation to the success of a branding project. But if you’re jumping straight into wondering what colours to pick or what your logo should be without thinking it out, then you may never feel like you’ve “arrived” at a brand which feels like you. You’ve first got to take the time to discover “Who am I, anyway?”
Reason 4: You don’t have the money.
I know you value quality design work and at the same time know that quality design work is not in your budget. It puts you between a rock and a hard place. The first thing I would figure out is where you are in your business journey. If you are just getting started, know that it is okay to start where you are. With something clean and simple that gets the job done. Your brand doesn’t have to be a masterpiece from day 1. In fact, most people’s aren’t. Obviously, I love quality, beautiful design work. But I would hate for you to not put your brand/website into the world because you believe it has to be “perfect” to be worthy of sharing. This comes back to reason #1 – perfectionism again. It’s better to have SOMETHING to share so you can start to build your business rather than waiting a year until you can save up and afford to hire someone.
If you’re further along in business and are hoping for a rebrand, but can’t afford it, I would look at simple things you can do to up-level your brand. That might look like buying a website template and learning how to customise it to fit your brand, rather than sticking with whatever outdated, basic website you have right now. It might not be a totally custom solution, but no one is going to know and I guarantee it will look 100% better than what you have now.
