Can You Build A Brand Before You Know What It Is?

It is a common problem business owners have… lack of conviction in their capabilities. It is universal. It is very rare to find someone who is 100% certain all the time in business. That would be like finding a unicorn if you find someone like that. I haven’t yet.

But there is a distinction amongst those who lack conviction sometimes (which again, is all of us). That distinction is those who carry forward anyway… and those who don’t. Which are you?

If you sit on the fence of indecision because you just aren’t sure which side to leap on, here are the consequences:

• confusion to your potential fans
• staying stuck in indecision
• broken brand before you even get a chance to build one
• loss of momentum before you leap
• wasted time and probably wasted money thrown at ideas that cannot possibly stick because you wobble when you sit on a fence

If you commit to leaping off the fence in just one decisive direction, in spite of the clarity to do so, here are the outcomes:

• the opportunity to get even more clear through trial and error
• building a fan-base because some of what you do will resonate enough to make others so grateful you to some kind of leap
• you begin to build a brand on what you stand for, even if you don’t know everything about what that means
• you can make some money on the bits you do know well enough to put a price tag on
• you begin to grow a community of likeminded colleagues, fans and customers (Did you know that we all connect when we acknowledge we TOO are not perfect. True story.)

On the fence feels safe. But if you stay on the fence, you are holding yourself back from the very experiences you need to clarify what you do, how you do it and for whom. You cannot build a brand being a fence sitter. Sure, there are risks when/if you leap in the wrong direction. But guess what? Once you take the first leap you get to be nimble to navigate those risks quickly and move to clarity faster.

Leaping or fence sitting today? Your choice. But if I see you sitting on the fence I might just come push you off. 😉