Initial lack of customers and cash flow often causes a small 
business to put off designing a logo and marketing materials 
professionally “until [they] got a few clients” or “until [they] 
get started.” Designing their own marketing materials when they 
launch their business, instead of having them professionally 
created, will make getting those initial clients more difficult, 
and may result in a business that will not succeed.

Many entrepreneurs choose to design their own marketing materials 
when they launch their business, especially by creating their 
first business card. Or, they will have an amateur designer, 
friend or relative create the design. There are several reasons 
why this is not the best idea. An amateur logo design and 
business card can make your business more likely to fail because:

* Your business won't look stable. It will appear to be more 
  likely to fold or to fail. Clients won’t have confidence in 
  doing business with you. Would you do business with someone 
  that seems to be on unstable footing ­ who might not be in 
  business by the end of your project, or after you’ve purchased 
  an item?

* You’ll look like a very small business. Large, successful 
  businesses would never consider doing business without 
  professional, originally designed marketing materials. Using 
  materials that are not professionally designed (i.e., Microsoft 
  or Vistaprint templates) makes your business appear even 
  smaller, and can possibly indicate that you cannot perform 
  to or meet the standards required.

* You’ll look unpolished and rough. Not having a professional 
  look and feel can make it look as though your business does not 
  matter to you. Customers may get the impression that you don’t 
  care about the way your business presents itself, which might 
  indicate that you wouldn’t care about the quality of your work, 
  or the way that your work reflects upon their business.

* You’ll look unfocused. Unprofessional, uncoordinated marketing 
  materials can make your business look “jumbled” or confused. If 
  you have a business card with one look and feel and a website 
  with another, this creates a confused ­ and confusing ­ look 
  and feel for your business. This can also cause an identity 
  crisis for a small business. When looking at your differently 
  designed materials, potential clients may be fooled into 
  thinking that they are looking at materials that represent 
  different companies.


About half of all businesses fail within their first few years. 
One source of failure that’s commonly cited by experts is sloppy 
or ineffective marketing ­ if your marketing materials don’t 
stand out from your competitors’, your sales will suffer.

When you start a business, you need to create the quickest 
possible route to business success.  A logo helps to create this 
by contributing to your business’s visibility, credibility, and 
memorability ­ three factors that will help your business to grow 
and achieve success. So, while putting off your logo development 
may seem like a prudent idea from a cash-flow point of view, it 
could result in your business never getting “off the ground”. It 
can also lead to your business folding when it would otherwise 
succeed ­ if you don’t invest in your business, who will?

If you think that you can’t afford to design a logo when starting 
your business, consider the outcomes ­ how can you afford not to? 

Erin Ferree is a logo, print and web designer who has been 
making it easy for small businesses to stand out and to be 
visible, credible and memorable for the past nine years.  
http://www.elf-design.com