7 ways Union 10 supports new businesses to get them off to a flying start

New start-ups in the pandemic

We’re all aware of how the COVID-19 pandemic has led to widespread businesses closures and economic misery for many, particularly those in the hospitality, entertainment and retail stores sectors.

But it isn’t all bad news in the business world.

Despite the many challenges faced, it seems the coronavirus crisis hasn’t managed to diminish the entrepreneurial spirit across the UK. Instead, it has inspired record numbers to seize the opportunity to start their own businesses and provided an encouraging sense of hope.

Last year saw a surge in new start-ups, with people reinventing themselves and changing the way they work. The Centre for Entrepreneurs’ analysis showed over 500,000 new UK start-ups launched in 2020. Follow-up polling research also found that 18% of UK adults had firm plans to start their own business in 2021, with a further 29% considering doing so.

How easy is it to start a new business?

Starting a new business is a lot harder than most people think. There can be quite some distance between having a great idea to launching a successful start-up.

Bridging that gap requires a lot of determination. It entails learning and dealing with a wide range of issues from financing, legal, sales and marketing, to liability protection, human resources, and much more. It is a considerable commitment. Many entrepreneurs fail to appreciate the significant amount of resources, skills and energy needed to start and grow a successful business.

In 2019, the success rate of start-ups was around just 10%.

Thankfully, despite the many challenges, start-ups continue to be a leading business model, driving innovation and economic growth worldwide. As a result, new products and services continue to be launched year after year by innovative and ambitious entrepreneurs.

When starting a new business, it’s crucial to know where the market is heading and anticipate your place in it. Additionally, it’s vital to have people around you who are supportive, experienced, and rooting for you to be in that top 10% of survivors …

… which is where Union 10 comes in.

7 ways Union 10 supports new businesses to get them off to a flying start

It’s often claimed that a successful business boils down to two aspects: marketing and bookkeeping. As a start-up, if you can excel at both of these, it doesn’t really matter what you’re selling because someone will buy it!

Although most entrepreneurs are full of creative ideas and aspirations, they can often lack key skills in marketing and bookkeeping. This, in part, accounts for that 90% of failed start-ups! These are two key areas where it is worth spending money to hire experts that can help.

While the Union 10 team can’t be of any use to start-ups in bookkeeping (sorry!), we have all the expertise and experience to deliver brand, digital and print projects that support your marketing strategy and guarantee your new business get offs to a flying start.

We take pride in helping new businesses by de-bunking the jargon and mystery around branding, websites, digital marketing and more. We provide ‘hand holding’ when needed and have a proven track record of guiding start-ups through their set-up phase, providing all the tools and assets required for long-term success.

1. Logo design

Every business, especially start-ups, needs a high-quality logo to best represent their company’s qualities and values. Many start-ups make the mistake of thinking they can save money by designing the logo themselves or simply copy and paste an image found online. Unfortunately, this quick-fix solution ends up looking unprofessional and doesn’t stand out from the thousands of competitors in their market – certainly not for the right reasons!

To really stand out and make a good impression, it’s essential to leave your logo to the professionals.

At Union 10, we understand that an intelligent logo design speaks volumes about your business, about who you are and what you represent. We know it’s often key to shaping that all-important first impression that helps people easily identify and remember your brand.

Our smaller agency approach means we work directly with each client to design, refine and perfect a bespoke, versatile logo that inspires a memorable brand. We pride ourselves on our personal and straightforward approach, where clients get to collaborate with the creative designer from concept to delivery.

We also know how logos need to work across different digital and print formats. This is why we always supply logo files in a range of formats, along with clear guidelines on how to use them consistently.

2. Brand identity

Launching a new business and staying ahead of the newly emerging start-ups has become a bigger challenge in recent years. Many of the problems associated with the increasing competition in the market can be combatted with one single solution – effectively building your brand.

Sadly, many start-ups disregard branding in the early stages and consider it to be an unimportant and unnecessary additional expense. This is a mistake. Being recognised as a brand has enormous benefits for any business, especially for those just starting out.

The Union 10 team understands why it’s vital for start-ups to have a unique identity right from the start. Branding is an important step that needs to be done first and needs to be done well. It helps people associate positively with a business from the very beginning and supports all its marketing efforts.

Working closely with each client, we take the time to really understand them and their new business, so we can create a distinctive brand identity that sets them apart from competitors.

Once you’ve invested in a logo design, it can be used to brand all your marketing assets – from social media platforms and PowerPoints to business stationery and wider marketing collateral. As a result, you’ll have a strong brand identity that’s reinforced every time you connect with your customers, partners and suppliers.

3. Clear brand guidelines

Every business needs brand guidelines that detail how they want to use their visuals and stay ‘on brand’. A good brand guide informs everything, including:

• brand message
• logo usage
• colour palette (with breakdowns for print, screen and web)
• type style (font family, types and sizes)
• image style/photography
• business card and letterhead design
• merchandising application
• layout options for brochures/flyers/newsletters, etc.

Applying your unique brand identity consistently ensures your marketing comes across as authentic, helping to build your reputation and, ultimately, securing that all-important strong brand recognition.

At Union 10, we know clear brand guidelines can transform a good brand into a great one. Marketing becomes a breeze when you get your brand right from the start, as your brand is the long-term marketing tool that shapes all your marketing activities.

We provide every client with a brand guidelines document, so all brand visuals can be presented correctly with consistency, quality and impact everywhere they show up. We make it simple for you to deliver a cohesive brand message now and in the future.

4. Web design and build

For new business owners, a start-up website is essential to help build their brand and reputation, market their products/services, and promote their values.

Unfortunately, many start-ups have the wrong mindset about websites, seeing them as yet another expense rather than a valuable investment. In today’s digital age, businesses cannot afford to make this mistake.

A start-up website is fundamental to any future business success. New business owners who understand the value of a strong online presence will be way ahead of many of their competitors.

Of course, there are no short cuts to building a great website that prospective customers, partners and investors are going to check out – not if you want to impress them with a complete experience and help your business grow.

At Union 10, we believe every website deserves a bespoke approach. It is essential to unite creativity with smart tech-thinking for a website that can deliver both style and substance. We design and build sites that not only look great but are also user-friendly, fast-loading, full of high-quality original content, search engine optimised, and mobile responsive.

We provide a range of website services that start-ups can select from, depending on their specific needs and budgets. These include:

5. Search engine optimisation (SEO)

For start-ups, SEO compliance is vital to achieving that all-important online visibility. There is no getting around the issue of SEO compliance, which needs to be in line with the specific standards of applications like Google Analytics.

To succeed, every start-up needs to continually attract, build, and educate its target market. The internet is overflowing with businesses, but only those that rank high in search engine results will achieve these goals.

At Union 10, we help make sure each client’s marketing strategy includes the fundamentals of SEO so that people searching for their products/services online will repeatedly find them near the top of search results.

6. Website hosting

To have a great website is one thing, but to publish it on the internet you need a hosting company. Hosts provide a secure space on their servers for business website files for a monthly fee. Costs typically depend on the size and features of the site, plus the amount of traffic it receives.

Domains and hosting are usually wrapped in unnecessary tech jargon that can be incredibly confusing to navigate. At Union 10, we make hosting simple and de-mystify the whole process.

We think our clients should retain ultimate control of where and how their sites are hosted and provide support through the whole process. We can recommend trusted hosting companies and advise on the best package for each business’ specific needs.

7. Social media set up and maintenance

Every start-up needs to be on the leading social media networks, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, etc. Its website should use visible icons to link customers to those social media pages. What customers or potential clients find on those social media pages is very important.

At Union 10, we understand that social media content must align with a start-up’s business and marketing strategy. The social media pages need to represent their business in the same way as their website. We can help set up social media channels and apply brand guidelines that set our clients apart from their competition.

Our team wants to see clients succeed in their entrepreneurial efforts and is dedicated to helping each one grow and thrive.

When first starting out, we know that budgets can be tight, which is why we offer a cost-effective, custom Start-Up Business Design Package. This provides all the essential ingredients needed to put strong marketing foundations in place and start reaching potential customers as soon as possible.

If you’re planning a new business, Union 10 can add value to your venture from day one. By choosing us as a design partner, you won’t need to deal with different agencies, printers, and suppliers. We’ll take care of everything – freeing you up to focus on your launch.

Most importantly, we’ll stick around, helping you as your business grows and thrives – this is integral to our personal approach. Investing time in building long-term relationships with clients is important to us, and we’ll always be here to help.

To find out more about our Start-Up Package, call Union 10 today on 01462 416 168 or email hello@union10design.co.uk. Alternatively, you can visit our Contact Us page.