The American idea of DIY — short for “do it yourself” — is something that has long been considered one of the cornerstones of success in enterprise. Entrepreneurs use their own wits and personal drive to make small businesses and startups work. While self-reliance and perseverance are essential ingredients to making any business idea work, often the entrepreneur with a revolutionary product idea needs help with the elements of building a brand.

The brand as an identity for a small business is combination of things. It’s not just a good product or a catchy name, but many SMBs try to build their brand reputation on a name or a product itself.
 

One formerly small and lesser-known startup business, Tito’s Handmade Vodka, is among one of the millions of SMBs out there that decided it couldn’t afford a traditional ad agency, and handled its marketing virtually by itself.
 
The firm’s owner, Tito Beveridge (yes, that’s his real name!) took to the streets and the social scenes around his hometown of Austin, Texas, to get the word out about his business. According to his story, as he told it to a New York Times blogger, he built his brand largely through word of mouth. He and his small staff also spent countless hours serving up free samples of his craft vodka to guests at parties, art gallery open houses and reluctant bar owners. While Tito’s Handmade Vodka is now well-known favorite among cocktail lovers and vodka connoisseurs, it took many years and a lot of personal relationship-building with bars, taverns and vodka drinkers for the brand to really take off.
 
Tito’s story is probably emblematic of the specialty beverage industry. It is one where craft brewers and spirits makers aim to capitalize on local appeal — and to some degree a rugged, individualist mentality amidst a beverage industry dominated by a few huge manufacturers that spend hundreds of millions yearly on TV and radio advertising. For the brands of craft beverage that do make it the stories of flouting the industry mainstream are legendary.
 
For a lot of businesses, particularly service-based businesses like law firms, home improvement contractors and tech firms, handing out a tasty sample of your service or expertise isn’t an option. Yet, building your brand and the reputation for which customers and future customers will remember you is just as important.
 
According to Corp Magazine, a good visual identity is essential to a small business and the growth of its brand, no matter what the industry sector. Corp Magazine’s contributing editor, Michael Carmichael, points out in a 2014 article that a brand is a culmination of things, including a business’s name, its growing reputation, and the value added along with its products or services. But if you consider a brand to be a wheel, ever turning toward progress, the company’s logo and the visuals and design elements it chooses with that logo, are the hub of the wheel and the brand itself.
 
In addition to this, an article put out by Inc. magazine points to the fact that simplicity is essential in designing a logo for a successful brand. In “4 Characteristics of Great Logo Design”, Inc. points out some things about logos and branding that seem obvious.
 
“Strong logos translate well across different media,” Inc. said. But it is important to think about your logo not just on one place like a sign or newspaper ad. Taking the discussion of logos a step further, the author asked: “Does your logo evoke the same meaning on a business card as it does on a billboard?” When it comes to running your business, doing what you do best should be your focus. Chances are that you don’t have the expertise to define what is or is not a stylish logo that best speaks your brand.
 
That being said, large and expensive ad agencies are not the only option. But you should not go to the other extreme either. Remember that you still need an expert to design your logo, website and other elements of your brand design. Firms like Idea Custom Solutions  will help you cost-effectively and quickly build your brand, with the sole purpose of reaching customers.
 
When it comes to running your business, we respect and honor the DIY spirit. But by giving our customers top-notch “do-it-for-me” branding and design solutions, we’ll help them boost their brands while their business continues to grow.