The time has come to be bigger and better.
As both a professional and as a person, I am, first and foremost, committed to quality.
To me ‘quality’ as in ‘quality ideas’ means elegantly integrating the intellectual with the emotional, the technical with the beautiful, quantitative data with qualitative context to develop superior real-life-consistent strategies.
When I began dabbling as an independent consultant in 2017, I set out under the assumption that I had much to learn. I intentionally (and vigorously) committed myself to developing the skills necessary to produce quality work. This meant that other functions inherent to operating a consulting practice — branding and marketing in particular— were effectively put on the back burner. (In fact, they might have even been pushed right off the back burner to get stuck behind the stove…)
In January 2020, I was finally ready to incorporate and build a full fledged consulting practice — but NOT quite ready to spend the not-insignificant time and money required to develop a *quality* brand image and strategy. After all, it was just going to be me at first and so I quickly threw together a colour palette, a basic website and created some acceptable social media content to tide me over until the time came to become bigger and better.
The time to get bigger and better came this month (May 2021) when…
- I deemed my core service to be refined and its value proposition to be reasonably rehearsed
- I landed on a simple-yet-effective business development and lead generation process to bring in a greater volume of work per month
- my professional reputation is reaching and taking hold in new markets and business circles — as indicated by the warm and generous feedback I’ve received from new clients and partners.
- my online following has reached the point of being a solid foundation but I absolutely need a clear strategy to take my branding and marketing efforts to the next level
The most significant development that pushed me to take the plunge, however, happened during the first week of May, when I had the great fortune and opportunity to interview 17 of the most capable student consultants from some of the most competitive post-secondary institutions in Canada for a position in the Small Business Fellowship program I am piloting with University Consulting Group (UCG).
It is this meaningful moment in time that helped me realize I now had more than enough reason to prioritize the careful crafting of an effective, attractive and lasting brand image.
I am very motivated to eliminate off-the-cuff guess work in my branding and marketing efforts (especially since this is not my expertise and I am salivating at the thought of not having to think through the same market-facing considerations over and over again anymore!)
I am very motivated to create a consistent and compelling image of the business I’m building that projects and inspires great confidence in the work my team and I are able to produce for our target clientele and also signals to them that, by becoming our client, they will be embarking on something new and exciting. Something that sets them apart from the herd.
Equally so, I want the students that I bring into my business as Fellows to know they are part of something significant; something they will directly benefit from and contribute to; something they can take pride in.
Since making the decision to hire TALIS Creative to develop my brand strategy and identity, I am so very excited (almost impatient!) to get my hands on the final outcomes and experience the growth and evolution my business will go through as a result.
At first it might not seem like the year 2020 was a good time to establish a business but I think, despite how hard it’s been (and continues to be) I will look back and think it was exactly the best time to get started. I have a strong sense that with this branding project and the involvement of these very smart, ambitious student Fellows, I will look back on this particular moment in time as the beginning of that proverbial “hockey stick” growth trajectory.
The time has come to be bigger and better!
