Your journey
Starting a business.
Brand, space, website and systems, in the order that makes sense. Most new businesses do these in the wrong order, and the wrong order is what turns a launch into six months of loose ends.
Where you probably are
- You have decided what the business is and you are now facing about forty decisions at once, most of which you have never made before.
- You have a name, maybe a logo somebody made cheaply, and a growing feeling that it does not look like a real business yet.
- You have found premises, or you are about to sign for them, and you do not know what has to happen before you can open the doors.
The point of this page is the order, not the shopping list. The order is what saves you money.
The order it happens in
The brand comes first, and not for artistic reasons. Almost everything else has to match it.
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01
The brand, before anything is printed
The logo, colours and typefaces have to exist before the sign is made, before the website is designed and before anything is printed, because all of those have to agree with each other. Doing it in this order costs the same and avoids paying twice for a sign that no longer matches.
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02
The space, if you need one
If you are taking premises, get someone to look at them before you sign. Half an hour can tell you whether the space will hold the business you are planning, and that conversation is free. If it works, the fit-out is designed with the sign already drawn on the elevation rather than added afterwards.
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03
Website and professional email
Five pages, done properly, and an address at your own domain rather than a free one. This is where most customers will check whether you are real, and it is a much cheaper credibility purchase than most people expect.
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04
Be findable
A Google Business Profile, set up properly, is free and for a local business it is often worth more than the website. It is also the single most commonly half-finished thing in Zimbabwean small business, which is exactly why doing it properly works.
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05
Keep it running
A domain that never lapses, backups, security, and somebody to call. The failure mode here is silent: a renewal notice goes to an address nobody checks and the site and every email address on it stop the same morning.
What it costs together
Bought as one package rather than assembled from four suppliers, opening properly costs $390. That is Brand Essentials, a Starter website, professional email, your Google Business Profile and a designed company profile, on one timeline with one team.
Add the premises design only if you are taking a space, and add the support plan when the site goes live. Payment on the project part runs 30% deposit and 70% on completion.
- Business Launch Package Brand Essentials, Starter website, professional email, Google Business Profile, company profile design
- $390
- Premises design Only if you are fitting out a space. A shop, a small office or a consulting suite
- from $700
- Keeping it running Hosting, domain, backups, security and support. Essential plan, or $8 a month
- $80 a year
Starting prices. Final quote after a free consultation.
What usually goes wrong
The twenty dollar logo
It is not cheaper, it is less. You get a picture rather than a usable identity, so it gets redrawn slightly differently by everyone who touches it, and eighteen months later your sign, your flyer and your Facebook page are three different businesses.
Signing the lease first and asking questions later
A space that cannot hold your business is an expensive mistake to discover after you have committed to it. This is the cheapest half hour in the whole process and it is free.
Registering the domain in somebody else's name
Your domain is your business address. If it sits in a supplier's account you do not really own it, and getting it back when the relationship ends is a bad week. It should be in your name, including with us.
Waiting for everything to be perfect before opening
Five pages that are true and load quickly will do more for you than a big site that is still three weeks away. Open, then grow the site as the business gives you something to put on it.
Common questions
Can I start with just a logo and add the rest later?
Yes, and plenty of people do. Brand Essentials at $120 is a complete small product rather than a partial one, so nothing has to be redone when you come back for the website. The package exists because doing it together is simpler, not because the parts do not work on their own.
Do I need a website if my customers are all on WhatsApp?
WhatsApp is how they will contact you. A website is how they check that you are real before they do, and it is what shows up when somebody searches for what you sell. They are doing different jobs, and the website is the cheaper of the two to get wrong.
What if I do not have premises yet?
Then skip step two. The brand, the website, the profile and the email are worth doing regardless, and none of them assume an address. When you do take a space, the sign is already designed.
Start here
Tell us what you want to build
A house, a brand, a website, a system, or all of it. Send a message and we will map out the path from idea to reality.