Why I Decided to Rebrand My Business and What I Learned Along the Way

Hi there, I’m Kilee – the founder and lead marketing strategist at Bondi Marketing. Today I wanted to share a peek behind the business curtain of my rebrand and official launch of Bondi Marketing.

I put Bondi out in the world coming back from my maternity leave in 2023. At the time I wasn’t sure what Bondi was or where it would take me. All I knew is that it was time for me to put structure around the consulting and freelancing that I’d been doing on the side of my full-time marketing career. Wanting to keep my costs low, I started in WordPress, purchasing a designed template on Etsy, and took my time figuring out the world of building a business from the ground up. 

Things shifted for me when I decided to go full time with Bondi, foregoing the comfort and security of my W2 position. Starting in 2024, I started to do the work of digging in and viewing Bondi as a separate entity from myself. Bondi is its own organization with culture, mission, and services. Therefore, I’m a founder of a company and my company needs to be separate from me, unique in its own identity. Well, that identity process is called (you guessed it) branding.

Branding is the process of giving a meaning to a specific organization, company, products or services by creating and shaping a brand in consumers’ minds.

It’s no wonder that deciding to officially brand Bondi brought a slew of varying emotions and the need to build something unique to the company. Throughout 2024 I’ve been focused on building Bondi to where it is now.

Today I’m spending time reflecting on the journey of my brand experience – including why I chose to do it now, when I knew it was time to take the project on, and my key takeaways.

THE CATALYST FOR CHANGE

I remember the moment I realized that I needed a shift. It was January 2024. I was writing my first eBook early in the morning before the world woke up at my kitchen island. I started to lay out the copy in a Canva template I had purchased on Etsy that aligned with my website.

I decided to do a search on Google and Etsy to see what else was out there – how were other business owners sharing similar copy and eBooks? What did their graphics look like?

What I discovered was that it was a sea of the same – it all looked, felt, and said the same thing.

Most of what I was seeing was basic and straight out of a template that mirrored what was pulled up in front of me on Canva. My wheels started spinning … why would anyone choose my content? How was what I created different?

It was at that moment that I started envisioning the reasons why I started Bondi.. why I selected the name ‘Bondi’, what inspired me to break away and dip my toe into entrepreneurship, and most importantly, how I wanted my clients to feel when they partnered with Bondi.

It was the moment that I knew I’d evolved and grown into the next step of my business journey and there was no turning back.

A few key reasons I knew I was ready for a rebrand (or the creation of an official brand):

• I felt an innate shift from freelancer to founder. This shift required me to think differently about my business, my vision for what I would build, and what I would offer. 
• My services and audience shifted subtly.
• Although I was proud of what I built off a purchased Etsy template in WordPress, I knew I needed to re-establish myself with a brand and website that could build authority in the market. Knowing that I was ‘new’ to the market meant that it was more important to have a strong and reputable brand to stand behind, especially when you are helping others craft their brand and marketing strategy. 
• Moreover, I felt it lacked fun and joy. Marketing is so fun! We need to bring the fun … and honestly it looked like a template. It worked well when I was positioned as a freelancer, but not great for conveying the message of my future business.

The decision was made and now it was time to decide how to move Bondi forward.

Moving into committing to a brand or rebrand is a little bit of uncharted territory. You don’t (and shouldn’t) do it often so you need to do research, allocate resources, etc. I knew that although I could be capable of doing something in Canva or WordPress, I wanted to give my brand to a professional. I’ve learned through entrepreneurship that it’s vital to lean into your 10% edge and to outsource (if you can) the rest.

I went on a mission to find like-minded partners who believed in my idea and could bring it to life.

What I considered for my brand:

• I wanted to make a statement – something that would look and FEEL different.
  • My competitors in the market all looked and sounded the same.
  • I wanted my brand and my business to exude fun and joy, because that’s what marketing is to me.
• I wanted my website to be easy to navigate, update, and unique (Coming from WordPress and building my old website myself off of a purchased template from Etsy was fine as a starting point. However, as I grew my book of business and vision of Bondi, I needed a platform that was easy to update and easy to navigate).

I looked to fellow marketers who I trust and believed in and received several different recommendations. I connected with Sarah from Quotable Copy. We grew up dancing together and had set up quarterly check-ins to connect – solopreneurship can be lonely so find your people – she had just done a rebrand with a design agency and her website and brand was so fantastic. I reached out to the branding agency and ironically their owner had a passion project that spoke to me and was coastal inspired. It felt like exactly what I was envisioning. Needless to say, I jumped at the opportunity to partner and bring the vision to life – hence, the Bondi brand you see was born.

The branding process was a longer process than most – Cember wasn’t able to start on my project until July. I signed my contract in February so it gave me plenty of time to process, prepare, and plan. 

As I reflect on the branding process, here are a few of my key takeaways:

• Working on your own brand is HARD. 😅
• You can always pivot so it doesn’t have to be absolutely perfect from day one. You change, your customers change, your business will change.
• You can’t do everything or be everything to everyone. When I first started, I envisioned helping both SMB AND solopreneurs. As I built out my Bondi brand, I realized that those two different audiences require separate businesses, with separate messaging – their challenges, opportunities, and experiences may overlap at some point, but are uniquely different and are worthy of a separate business and brand strategy. I’m proud of the work and this realization. If you are a solopreneur, stay tuned for an exciting sister brand launching in winter 2024.
• Trust yourself.  Back to it being hard to work on your own business… trusting what you know to be true can be hard. Setting a direction, firming up a niche, describing an offer, putting a price tag on your signature service – it’s all hard and subjective. You must trust that you’ve done the research and know your audience, business, and yourself best.
• The unknown is uncomfortable, but not as uncomfortable as staying in the same space and wondering ‘what if’. There were so many times during the last 9 months that I felt like a fish out of water. 
• Don’t be afraid to take risks. Business is hard and is a gamble no matter what so clear a path to what feels authentic and right for you and your vision for your business. The fear of missing out reminds me that I should say yes to everything, but the business founder in me says to speak to your customer and go after the business you know you want and best serve 

Again, branding and working on your business is hard. 😅😅

If you are considering a brand or rebrand for your business, here are a few of my considerations and tips.

1. Dig into why you are considering rebranding: Are you offering a new product or service? Did you learn information about your business that requires a shift (new audience or market)?
2. Do you have a budget allocated to a brand overhaul? What pieces are you looking at revamping? You’ll want to consider all of the components that touch your brand when you outline updates and expenses. For example:
   1. Website 
   2. Brand identity and creative
   3. Brand strategy
   4. Marketing strategy or marketing plan
   5. Brand photography
   6. Product imagery
   7. Collateral
   8. And more
3. What are you looking for in a strategic partner? Do you need multiple partners or can you hire an agency to help orchestrate all of the elements for you? This one is a big one and it’s important to consider your time, investment, and what you seek out of a partner. Request quotes and discovery calls from multiple sources (we recommend around 3 to start) and find out what is uniquely different about each business and if you feel like they would be a good fit for you.
4. Working on your business can be tough. It’s a hard mindshift to focus on building your business instead of being in your business where your hours are billable. Working on your business, especially doing the deep branding work can tedious.

As we close, I’m grateful for the partners who helped me craft my message, vision, and business into what it is today. Branding is just the foundation to your overall business and marketing strategy. I’m looking forward to continuing to build, grow, and refine Bondi as I learn and grow.

There are many different avenues that we could dive into in discussing the branding process. Leave us a comment or reach out if you have questions or want us to dive deeper into one particular area. As always, I’d love to connect with you as a resource and potential marketing partner if you need a branding agency. To meet with Kilee and learn more about our experience, you can get started at www.bondimarketing.com/contact.