The projects I worked on include two major parts. First, I worked on brand content, which focused on revamping brand identity and solidifying the brand image. I was able to set up a foundation and steppingstone/next steps for the brand in order to be ready for the house brand launch. This was done by setting up a structured working area and searching for partnerships to help develop the brand content. The results of the project were to successfully clean up the brand strategy and positioning. The second project was starting a new product line, which required the brand structuring for the launch of the house brand product and vetting of suppliers for the house brand production. The details of the work included researching local homemade manufacturers whose business ethics aligned with the company ethos, setting up the transition of products, and the marketing campaign around the changeover to the house brand.

Since this company was very young — a one year old startup, where the founder has no business background and came from educational media — there were a lot of moving parts and blurred areas. The first skill from my degree that I applied to the project was to identify the company standpoint. It’s very important in the modern business world to know your current position in comparison of others and know where you want to be. This helped the founder get a more vivid image of brand positioning and was able move the company in the right direction. Secondly, another important skill is to identify the company’s and the team’s strengths and weaknesses. When running a business, it’s very vital that you spend your time thoughtfully in the area you can excel and find additional help in the area that is not your asset. Lastly, the skillset that I applied to this project was to create a strategic plan for the company along with tactical moves that were prioritized by urgency. A lot of times, in a startup there are many things to work on, leaving the founder overwhelmed and swamped. If s/he does not have a clear definite plan, then s/he will be easily distracted by all the moving parts. Overall, these management skillsets greatly supported my ability to consult the founder into creating a stronger brand and robust strategic plan for the company.

Often times, a founder is too emotionally and physically invested into the business, and s/he cannot see the situation from another standpoint. This can cause him or her to be blindsided by the situation the company is stuck in. My main challenge was getting the founder to take a step out of the center to look at everything from the outsider perspective. It took a lot of time in the beginning to demonstrate to the founder that the customers did not see the brand in the way it was intended. The other challenge that I faced was getting the founder to prioritize potential actions for the company. I understand that for a startup there are so many things to do. At the start of a business, when most brands do not have resources to pour into everything, the best strategy is to go with the action with the most impact on the business. These impacts can range from increasing the sales units, to getting the brand out in the market, to improving the brand positioning. However, the founder must prioritize the possible actions and consider the feasibility of each tactical move. In the beginning, the agreed upon project was to work on the house brand manufacturing process. However, after digging deeper into the business, I learned that the company was not ready to go there before revamping their existing structure. Therefore, my goal over the summer was to align the founder’s thinking with the customer’s vision, finding working partners to help act as different departments in the future, and to create a guideline for the strategic growth of the brand. In the guideline, I delivered the overarching strategy of the brand and created a steppingstone for the brand to grow organically and effectively.

The overall experience this summer was great. It was a slow start in the beginning learning about the company and the product, as well as learning the working style of the team. However, after the learning curve passed, we were able to get along and worked very efficiently with great communication.