A successful brand is often the result of a lengthy thought process, backed by human experiences and emotions. A lot of entrepreneurs base their branding on something personal, something that left a permanent mark on their personal lives. As such, they want to incorporate this experience in their professional lives by making it an integral part of their branding process.

As a business owner, the topic of pivoting and rebranding can be a touchy subject. With all of the hard work you’ve put into building your company’s identity, products, services and more, it’s easy to feel as if rebranding or pivoting would be taking a step back as an entrepreneur. That being said, anything that could potentially result in rapidly increasing revenue for your company should never be deemed a step back. By strategically rebranding your business or pivoting, you will be re-positioning yourself in the marketplace to better compete with other businesses.

Starting your own business is an exciting time and you should revel in the exhilarating thrill of your new possibilities. Many entrepreneurs never experience the jubilation of opening the doors to their business for the first time. If you have gotten to this point, you are doing something right. Enjoy the moment.

In late April, President Donald Trump unveiled his tax plan, touting it as, “the biggest individual and business tax cut in American history.” So, what exactly is his plan and how would it affect small business? Industry officials have been taking apart the plan for days, analyzing it from every possible angle. Although the long-term implications of the plan are up for debate, short-term impacts are obvious.

As we at Brandroot usher in a new year, we thought it would be both fun and prudent to revisit companies that purchased names from our marketplace in 2016. Companies that have enjoyed success can often be looked upon as models. If our names have worked for them, they can surely work for anyone considering a launch in 2017.

“Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion. You must first set yourself on fire.” ~ Canadian hockey great Fred Shiro

Starting a business can seem like a monumental undertaking. Breaking down the necessary steps can help you control your to-do list and prioritize your tasks into manageable chunks. Let’s start with your business name.

45% of all emails sent on a given day are flagged as spam; 56% of which are advertisements. The result of these figures has been a concerted effort to create more sophisticated and therefore more effective spam filters. For a new company that depends on emails as part of their marketing campaign, that means you need to work even harder to avoid the dreaded junk mail pile.

The Super Bowl is an annual event that is known for its advertising as much as its football. Million dollar companies like Frito-Lay (the producer of Doritos), Coca-Cola, Mars (famous for the M&M), and Ford spend 364 days preparing to unleash their creative genius on consumers during the big game. A total of $377 million was spent on advertising during Super Bowl 50, which took place a few short days ago. The average cost of a 30-second commercial was $4.8 million, which equates to approximately $160,000 per second.

The idea of starting your own business is not always a comfortable feeling. Being overwhelmed and unsure of yourself is completely normal. Even the most confident entrepreneurs have experienced periods of doubt and uncertainty. The ones who make it out of this phase are those who possess at least two things: in-depth knowledge and instinct. The knowledge part can obviously be developed. There are many ways to study and familiarize yourself with your industry’s concepts and skills. The instinct side of the coin, however, is sometimes harder to come by.