3 Tips on Re-Naming or Re-Branding Your Small Business

When you either buy a new business or decide you want to shift the focus of your business, you may want to consider a name change and rebranding. If you have decided that rebranding is the way to go to change the perception of your small business you want to make sure to keep the customers the business has worked hard to attain and maintain.

Recently MSNBC’s Your Business put a spotlight on a business that did it in a way that worked best for their needs. There are many different rebranding situations so their techniques may not work for you but there are lessons we can all learn from their success.

Lesson 1: Plan, Plan, Plan
Make sure that when you do rebrand you are working smart and know how you want to transition to the new name or brand.

Lesson 2: Involve your Community
A good way to make sure not to alienate your existing and future customers is to involve them in the name change or rebranding. Social media is a great way to propose some ideas, let your community of followers know why you want to make the change and listen to their feedback. (You are not going to satisfy everyone but you can start creating the buzz and might get some good ideas that your team would not have created.)

Lesson 3: Promote the Transition
Make sure that you inform every one of the change while reassuring them that not only will your products or services still solve their problems, but now it will be more efficient in doing so. I loved the way they did it in the featured video of both a tagline for a while “formerly” and old name as well as the “Our Roots Stay The Same” allowing their current customer to know while some things are being improved the core is still intact. Find a creative way to reassure your target audience that this is not a brand new thing but instead is an improved version of an existing success.

Please add to the conversation, if you have changed your brand or business name what are the strategies you found successful or other helpful lessons for fellow Entrepreneurs?

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