Don’t overlook the small things, even when you have bigger fish to fry. Especially then, because the details influence how you and your messages are perceived — and during startup you need everything working in your favor. They aren’t sexy to many entrepreneurs and business visionaries, but they can help support (or undermine) everything else. Don’t wait “until there’s time” or because they “aren’t a priority right now.”
For example:
- It’s more than just a logo or logotype, but have one and use it well.
- Issue your proposals, plans, and press releases as PDFs, using a nice letterhead design that works with your logo. Add helpful PDF bookmarks, maybe the pages sidebar, and a table of contents with links for longer documents.
- You write so many emails, invest an hour or two in creating an appropriate and consistent format and custom signature(s) that will look good on most recipients’ systems.
- And have you claimed your Google Business page and optimized it?
So, when you’ve been beating your head against a brick wall, working on the business plan — or just need to clear your head from budgeting and production goals — switch it up and look for bite-sized tasks you can take care of instead of sweeping them under a rug until later. They can lend greater weight and credibility to your work and, while they won’t close a deal for you, they might help open the door to one.
