One thing I’ve learned in my years of working with entrepreneurs, small business owners, and the organizations that support them is that a mismatch in perception is almost guaranteed in every scenario.

I often use the statement “your brand is not what you say, but what others say about you.” It doesn’t mean that you can’t try to change or influence what they say, or that you can’t promote or market the brand you are aiming to be, or think you are.

When William Shakespeare posed the question, “What’s in a name?” he wasn’t talking business, but if he were, my response would be, “Everything!”

In my last blog, I mentioned that the reality of branding is people-determinant.

I suggested that you can contribute to that brand by articulating what you want the public to know.

“While you control things such as your logo, colors, slogans, mission, vision and core values, at the end of the day your brand is what others say about you based on what they perceive it to be, or what they have experienced.”

“Most of the work can be done by an employee with the right attitude, and a bit of “upscaling” of their skills, through training or education.”

“The image you hope to present of yourself impacts you as a person, and can impact your employees, your customers, and your entire business performance. Think about what your self-image will do for you as well as for the community you live in, and for your business.”

“Someone may hold a position that entitles them to “lead” people, but that doesn’t mean that they are a leader within the community. They may have POWER over the community, but that’s not the same as being a true leader.”

“While some companies can attempt to force you to go into the office, many try to leverage the idea that you can work from anywhere. This allows you to expand to new areas, locations, and potentially to live the life you want to.”

“Working with entrepreneurs and leaders I understand that they don’t always want to wait for something to happen. They want to make things happen right now. But some things need persistence and repetition.” -Faris Alami

“The little things are what makes a company unique or different. From a high level, many companies might look identical or competitive with each other. But once you zoom in, what makes an entrepreneur, startup, or business owner stand out are the little things they are doing differently in the day-to-day operations.”

“My experience in repeated pitching taught me the importance of practice and arranging the ingredients, the pieces of your presentation, carefully. The order in which you mention details is key to the audience to which you are pitching.”

“Just like great meals, a successful pitch takes time, and a pitching situation is not the time to fly by the seat of your pants!”

“Every successful cook knows that the first step in creating a masterpiece is what the French call “mise en place” (essentially, everything in place), the steps of preparing to cook, which we will adapt to preparing a pitch.”

“Simply moving forward allows you to just keep going — because you aren’t really taking the time to think about what happened, when or why it happened, or at least having some understanding of what worked or didn’t.”

“As we move into the new year, I encourage you to think about taking a moment to celebrate the successes.”

“From Michigan to San Francisco, from Oman, Jordan, Belarus, and so many others countries, I’ve learned that individuals supporting small business owners and entrepreneurs also need a support system.”

“We all know ideas are worthless unless you implement them. Implementation is where (as we say in Detroit) the rubber meets the road. When reality hits, you still have to adjust or adapt to make sure the product or service is meeting the customer demand or desire.”

“What I have learned is that business owners and leaders who take the time to reflect on what went well, what they could do to improve, and what might have been missed opportunities are the ones who grow at a much faster rate.”

“I’m also thankful for those who told me NO, they don’t want my service or business. As I reflect on the situations, I realized that in most cases, it would have been a disaster to move forward.”