I. INTRODUCTION:
THE AIM BEHIND THE
HANDBOOK
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Today companies face huge challenges stepping into the market with new products
and services. Finding the right market, price, budget and team to work with in this
fast developing world of business is extremely challenging. A brand is key in order
to stand out from competitors and effectively reach and gain loyal customers.
This handbook was carefully constructed for existing or potential entrepreneurs,
managers of SMEs and start-ups to give an overview about the necessity and importance of branding. It is not a marketing book guiding you step by step through marketing strategy and extrovert approach; however it presents the key points
which show how to build up a brand. It sets out the targets which have to be fulfilled
whilst creating a brand, for example: establishing a company image, name, whilst
also maintaining a consistent approach throughout.
A successfully implemented brand becomes an essential tool for achieving a company’s business objective. This handbook was carefully put together so as to be
user friendly and to contain practical information to serve as a general guide to
‘branding’, as well as a short summary of extroversion techniques and relevant online resources in order to improve a target group’s branding process and reach
business goals.
National and European Desk and Field Research
In order to create and develop this handbook, we have carried out complex research. By studying different texts and also through the analysis of other practises,
we have been able to explore and understand the foundations of branding and
extrovert entrepreneurial attitude.
By using the primary research method of questionnaires and interviews, we were
able to collect new and up-to-date information regarding the background and current strategies of SME’s. In this way, we were able to assess current needs with
respect to branding, as well as different entrepreneurial attitudes in the workplace.
We summarised our findings in a report.
The main finding from the research was that branding strategy and extrovert entrepreneurial attitude are important parts in the SME’s operation, meanwhile the
processes, relationships and activities of the branding strategy and entrepreneurial
attitude are not always clear. Lack of knowledge was also detected in finding the
link between the two.
Therefore a basic guidance information collection is needed which provides essential approach with clear definitions. Whatsmore, a brief description of the processes
and relations is also needed in order to help SME’s decide whether they need the
process of branding and extroversion or not.
With this handbook, we aim to solve these problems and fill in the gaps; to provide a
clear description of the branding process and extroversion techniques in order to make
it easier for companies and SMEs to understand and implement in their own way.
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