Strategic brand positioning for SMEs during coronavirus and beyond

The Youth Business Network Foundation (YBN) and the Ghana Startups Network on Wednesday commenced a series to engage entrepreneurs and its key stakeholders globally.

Dubbed the Entrepreneurs101 Dialogue, this series seeks to engage, inform and educate entrepreneurs, particularly SMEs across the globe, in this hard times of Covid-19 and beyond.

In his opening remarks, the Executive Director of YBN and the Host of the Dialogue, Solomon Adjei opined that this is the right time to engage the Small and Medium Scale businesses more, to empower and motivate them, while offering them all the necessary support needed for them to be able to sustain their businesses beyond Covid-19.

The maiden edition of the Dialogue, aired on social media, hosted the CEO of BrandE, a branding company, to discuss how SMEs can position themselves and be able to sustain their businesses.

In her presentation, Henrietta Adjetey outlined some key things necessary for every entrepreneur, focusing on branding as adding value and identity to something, of which I will be sharing a few with you.

Branding starts with the individual: who you are, defines how you deliver.

Character is key: be known for the true person you are. Deliver on your promises, and always honor your words, irrespective.

Appearance matters: how you dress and present yourself has a way of attracting suitable customers.

Customer Service matters: How you treat your customers ensure your brand is sustained.

Choose a brand name carefully, considering the MSR rule – Mention, Spell and Remember. Is the name you are choosing easy to be Mentioned?

Can it be Spelt easily, and most importantly, can people Remember it?

Always try to avoid ambiguity and confusion with your brand name. For instance, you might have to consider using the word “Food” instead of “Fuuud”. Though same pronunciation, the latter is seeming to pose confusing challenge.

Always think global when deciding on business names. For instance, using a name such as “Esi Breakfasts”, will definitely limit your options to expand and provide lunch or dinner services later on. Again, using names such as “CrownPower Ghana (or Gh)” have a way of limiting your reach to offer certain services beyond Ghana when an opportunity arises. So why don’t you avoid such names now and save the cost of a possible rebranding in the near future?

On brand positioning: Get a simple but catchy logo, business cards, website, social media accounts, brochures, flyers among other logistics needed to make your brand known.

Tag lines: your taglines assure your potential clients of your offer. When you use “Delivery with speed” as your tagline, ensure you don’t deliver late, and be sure to communicate to your clients in case of any incident that might cause delay.

Have Foresight: always think ahead and add new knowledge.

Sell: always remember to sell, irrespective, because people buy every day.

Henrietta wrapped it up by empowering SMEs to implore the power of technology, in such times as Covid-19, and even beyond, to reach their target audience, and to connect and network strategically. The full video of the interview is shared on Instagram via https://www.instagram.com/iamsolomonadjei/. Interested persons can log on to watch, and follow the account for notifications and alerts to join the next sessions.