SME owners, get serious about personal branding

Developing a personal brand separate from a business brand is beneficial for SME owners. (Pic: Unsplash)

Building a personal brand is not just for influencers, big business tycoons or worker ants. Small business owners who are closely associated with their businesses are a textbook case on how personal branding can impact not just their small business but also themselves as individuals.

The owner of a small and medium enterprise (SME) can logically position himself or herself as a business owner. But he or she also can be positioned as an industry expert, thought leader, industry body representative or as an authentic human being who the people may want to know, trust, learn from, and ultimately, do business with.

Here are five reasons why developing a personal brand separately from a business brand is beneficial for SME owners ― both professionally and personally.

First, it creates another channel for outsiders to discover your business, increasing visibility and exposure with opportunities to be seen. This is important since SME owners may have limited digital presence and struggle with getting their business message out to potential customers. If the business has grown, it is a good content to start sharing as your success story. Even if things have not worked out as expected on the business front, a listing of lessons learnt is a great and credible way to stay engaged with existing customers, followers, and prospects. If you are positioning yourself as a thought leader, you can come higher up in organic search rankings when people search for information related to your industry. You can showcase your expertise and become known for that.

Second, it helps in building trust and credibility for SME owners with their target audience. By creating a strong personal brand, they can showcase their expertise, experience, and unique qualities, which can make them more attractive to potential customers. In today's competitive market, it can be challenging for SMEs to stand out from the competition. A strong personal brand can offer a differentiation by highlighting their unique qualities, values, and personality.

Third, it creates networking opportunities that go beyond just increasing social media followers. You can find potential new employees, consultants, influencers, mentors and partners who can enable growth and help overcome business challenges. A great personal brand provides leverage amongst consumers, media, industry forums and peers, which can lead to collaborations, partnerships, and even new business ventures.

Fourth, it helps to attract quality talent for your business because talented professionals want to work with visible thought leaders and experts in their field. It makes them look and feel good.  It also enables them to learn and grow along with the thought leader, which is a win-win for both sides. New employees search for employers who are innovative, credible and good leaders.

Smart Growth

Finally, good personal brand helps in better crisis management: In the event of a crisis or negative publicity, a strong personal brand can help SME owners maintain their reputation and credibility. You can create a positive association with your own company, which can help mitigate the impact of any negative reports, firestorms or social media backlash.

So, what can SME owners do to build a personal brand for themselves? Here are some pointers:

1 Define your target audience. Be as detailed as possible and try to put yourself in their shoes. Try and understand their thinking and what is it that they could be searching for.

2 Clearly identify and express your unique value proposition. What makes you different and better than your competitors? What problems of customers can you solve?

3 Create consistent brand messaging including tone and manner, fonts and colours. Focus on one or two types of content formats and work on these fronts. For example, short format videos and tweets.

4 Use content marketing tools and social media to build your presence and engage with your audience.

5 Attend industry events, collaborate with other thought leaders, and continuously innovate to stay ahead of the curve.

Need inspiration to drive your personal brand? Here are three SME owners who are building not only awesome businesses but also their personal brands. Check them out and learn by following them.

Check out Sandeep Mall, who runs a successful business that manufactures engineering products. He is also a wildlife photographer, master health coach and builder of a community that believes in supporting each other for growth.

Meet also Sairee Chahal who runs a women-only social network Sheroes and encourages fellow entrepreneurs by offering her take on the start-up ecosystem on her handle.

Another SME owner, who is building his personal brand on top of his insurance advisory company, is Mahavir Chopra. He shares personal anecdotes along with thought-leadership content and advisory.

Building a personal brand is a journey, not a destination. It takes time, effort, and consistency to establish. But with the right strategy and mindset, building a personal brand can be a powerful tool for SME owners to achieve their goals.