Branding critical to SMEs growth

If Small and Medium-Scale Enterprises (SMEs) are serious about seeing sustained growth in their businesses, they need to pay a lot of attention to branding, Simon Willar, a Branding and Market Communication Expert, has said.

Speaking to the B&FT at a forum jointly organised by Horseman Shoes and Wear Ghana, the branding expert said: "There is a general lack of understanding of what branding is. Everyone associates branding with high cost. But it is rather the opposite. Branding is about time, passion and vision, rather than spending money."

He added that: "The second issue is a lack of understanding of the marketing environment. You don’t have to be a marketing expert to start a business. But what actually is missing among SMEs is that they don’t just know how to go about it."

To get branding right, Mr. Willar said, entrepreneurs must consider certain important factors that will ensure that their brands satisfy their existing customers and also attract prospective ones.

"One must do a basic analysis of their business to know which sector they operate, why they are in business, what need they are filling and what opportunities they can create for customers and prospective customers, and how to build a business that is based on providing needs and solutions to customers," he added.

He cautioned, however, that entrepreneurs must not expect immediate cash returns from investing in their brands as it takes considerable time for a business to grow to the point of making profit.

"If entrepreneurs take branding seriously, it is going to help their business grow and expand. Notice, I didn’t say they are going to make money upfront. All businesses take time to make profit. But the biggest opportunity in branding is that your business grows and the growth generates profits over time," he stated.

The SME sector forms a major part of the country’s economy, constituting over 90 percent of registered businesses, and contributing over 40 percent to the economy.

However, the sector is confronted with myriad challenges that have held back its growth. It is in this light that the two companies, Horseman Shoes and Wear Ghana, decided to organise a forum that will touch on one of the major challenges they face—branding.

Commenting on the relevance of the programme, one of the organisers, the CEO of Wear Ghana, Awura Abena Agyeman, said entrepreneurs in the country are working hard to grow their businesses and so they need to know what kind of things to get right that will help them reach their goal.

"Wear Ghana and Horseman Shoes came together as partners to create a platform for entrepreneurs that will also help partnerships to be formed through networking. We also see that a lot of entrepreneurs are doing wonderful things but they are not well branded and that has limited growth in many enterprises.

So, this gathering is to help empower them to see the value of branding. And we have learned today that a good brand is the one that delivers on its promise and satisfies the customer," she said.