Your logo

@Terry Millard thank you so much for this nicely structured explanation! I'm currently trying to rethink my approach and organize my flow to better suit me vision, and this helped a lot!

@Maru TuchiWhat a great post!

@Fadi what is the name of your brand?

'The other option is that there may be an unexploited niche and I was so lucky that I can't believe it'

@Maru Tuchi Congratulations, you have a blue ocean!

Hi Maru, I love this discussion. Starting a businees is fun, exciting and scary. I believe thinking about these items help start a business with focus and increases the opportunity to succeed. I have given up on full business plans. They take forever to create, they are 90% guesses and they typically gather dust on a shelf. I recommend outlining what is known as the 4 “P’s” in a one page document. The 4 P‘s are - 1. Product - what are you going to make. 2. Price - what is price model. 3. Placement - where are you going to sell your products. 4. Promotion - what are plans for marketing. If you can get this into a one page document, you will have enough direction to make strong business start. I‘ll try to address some of your questions and comments below.

Product - Decide where you want to focus your product line. This can be simplified down to - 1. standard products - you pick style, leather, etc. and sell, 2. standard products - your standard pattern but the customer selects leather, hardware color, etc. 3. Full custom - create unique product for each customer. You can pick any or all models and make it work. Thinking about this ahead of time helps you know when to say “no, I don’t do that.” ”No” is an important concept. It will keep you focused in the direction you want to take the business. Sometimes you can find opportunities in the “no’s” but it is better to go in another direction with some thought instead of wandering around.

Price - this will depend on the product model you select and how you want to position your brand. Don’t be afraid to sell at fair price. People connect price and value. If you start low, people may link your brand to low quality.

Placement - where are you going to sell your products - online web store, Etsy or other aggregators, physical store, selling arrangements with other physical stores/boutiques. Placement will also address your market area. If you sell on Etsy or online your market can be worldwide. If you sell from a booth at your local craft show then your market is most likely local.

Promotion - Marketing is important! Develop a plan for how you want to market your new business. Some of this driven by your placement decisions. It can be as simple as posting on Instagram everyday or as complicated as a ads in magazines or online.

Get this on one page. If the business feels “right” - go for it. Don’t overthink these decisions. You can start this business with little cash investment so you can minimize your financial risk. The risk is primarily the time you invest. Successful businesses evolve and change with customer desires, and your desires.

Good luck and have fun!

Terry

@Fadi Trading with a designer is exactly what I did. He helped me with my branding, logo, website, photo's and some copy writing and he got a belt, wallet and a card wallet in return. Who needs money eh?! Skills is all you need. :)

@Fadi I completely understand your concern about non-personalized logos, websites, etc. I started a web development and software company in 1994. I have talked countless people out of spinning flags and other silly things. Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. I like your idea of trading with a designer. Everyone wins.

@Maru Tuchi You probably know all this, I’m going to do some simple outlining to get down to my point. There are 4 pieces to this equation. 1. What do you want your brand to say/represent? 2. Where are you going to use your branding? Etsy, Instagram, craft shows (create a plan) 3. Create the necessary branding stuff - logo, tag line, color pallete, graphics, images, etc. 4. Execute the plan.

If you have a clear vision of what you want your brand to represent and where you plan to use it, then it makes it easier to recognize and keep away from the non-personalized logos etcs. My experience is that simple and honest work best for small startups.

@Glenn Delmotte Exactly! Your name does sound french! And it the design world, that's a very very good thing.

@Terry Millard I don't know man, you can always tell when something is generated by a pc as opposed to a human. It has this "not personalised enough" feeling. I used to make websites (way before wix and square space were the hype), old school programming, and you could always tell when someone used a template to create a website. And it usually gave a bad image to the website owner. Like "he cant even have a personalised website, he went a got a generic one. This is not a serious company".

@Maru Tuchi If you know a graphic designer in your area, you could do what I did when i wanted a photographer friend to take prof picture of a bag I made. We exchanged works: he took pictures, I made him a pocket wallet. Maybe that could be an option for you?

Also, did you decide on a name? :)

Hi Maru, Here are some ideas based on my experience creating products, brands, logos etc. One if these may work for you depending on what you have in mind. I can’t wait to see the results!

There are several free online logo making sites. You typically select a style or type of business, add your text, add graphics or images and the site generates sample logos. They offer more font styles then I could imagine and I was surprised at the range and style of graphics. Some will even generate sample business cards and letterhead. I have found them good for producing simple, professional logos. Search for “online logo maker” and you will find a wide selection.

When I wanted to select a font for my makers mark I found an article about luxury brand fonts, https://www.fontsmith.com/blog/2017/01/16/fonts-and-luxury-brands-chapter-three-fashion, found a free online font type site and started playing. Once I found a font I liked, I worked with a stamp maker to get it sized properly.

Another relatively inexpensive option is to use a freelancer to create a logo/branding. I’ve used UpWork.com to hire a freelancer to create graphics and logos. You define and post your project on the site and freelance designers from all over the world bid on the project. You have ability to look at their work and select the one you prefer. This is a good option if you have something specific in mind, like stylized text, a graphic that combines images, or more complicated combinations of text and graphics. Based on what I have seen, I suspect some freelancers use the free logo maker sites to generate their ideas. I was able to find creative people by reading a ton of reviews and looking for real world applications of their work.

A designer friend of mine suggested that I should use my last name since it sounded somewhat French and made him think of a a brand with a long history. He based my logo on my handwriting.

Personally, I had a friend designer make it for me. We sat together, i told him what my "vision" was for my products (Rugged, Tough, Long Lasting, NOT CLASSY OH LA LAAAAA, etc.), then he sketched some rough ideas for me, i picked the one i found suited me best and we continued to improve from there.

The benefit of the motorcyle community is that he did it for free :D