Is your ‘village’ branding undermining your expertise?

When you first start a business, the priority is usually just getting something (anything!) live. You just need a name, a way for people to contact you and some sort of visual presence.

In those early days, most of us rely on what I think of as village branding. It’s that initial phase of small business branding where things are a bit DIY and cobbled together for the sake of speed. Maybe a friend’s cousin designed a logo for fifty quid, or you found a bit of clipart that looked "fine for now," and you spent a Saturday night wrestling with a basic template to get a one-page DIY website up.

It’s functional, it’s fast and it’s a perfectly normal way to begin. But there comes a point where that village look starts to work against you.

The mismatch between your work and your look

The problem with village branding isn't that it’s inherently "bad", it’s that it’s static.

While you’ve been out there becoming an expert, honing your craft and delivering high-end results for your clients, your branding has stayed exactly where it started.

This creates a disconnect. You’re now operating at a level that is sophisticated and professional, but your web design and online footprint still looks like that first-draft DIY project.

When a potential client hears about your expertise but then visits a site that looks a bit amateurish, they have to work quite hard to bridge that gap. They see the clipart and the clashing fonts and they subconsciously start to question the premium nature of your service.

Moving on from the "just for now" phase

One of the most common things I hear from founders is that they feel they’ve outgrown their original look. They are an established business that needs a professional brand identity to match and their original one-page website is just not being found.

Continuing to use that cobbled-together identity is a bit like turning up to a professional meeting with your notes scrawled on the back of an old envelope. You still have the expertise, but you’re forcing the other person to look past the clutter just to see the quality of your ideas.

Refreshing your brand isn't about being vain or chasing a trend. It’s about making sure your external signals actually match your internal value. It’s about moving away from the "clutter" of the early days and building a digital home that finally does your expertise justice.

Does your current branding feel like a "village" setup you’ve outgrown? I’d love to help you move into something more intentional. Let’s talk about how we can close that gap. Call in the Cavalry.