Startups narrowly focused on developing a product that can be shipped now and improved upon later often believe they lack the time necessary to build a brand properly or believe it’s something that can be done at the very end.

Even if time is not an issue, is building a brand really something you can do yourself? And we all know doing so is expensive, right?

There’s never enough time to brand, right?

Conventional wisdom often tells us branding is costly in terms of both treasure and time. Without a compelling brand, it can be difficult, if not impossible, to compete, evolve, and grow. But what if there were a smarter way to brand? A thought process that can help you brand effectively, cost­efficiently, and rapidly?

Lean startups and disciplined organizations don’t have to settle for costly failed branding efforts. If you’re willing to roll up your sleeves at the outset you too can identify and develop your brand in ways that allow for real time adaptability and adjustment.

Here’s a secret branding gurus don’t want you to know; you don’t have to possess a fully developed brand prior to validating or shipping a minimum viable product (MVP). In fact, smart brands begin fluidly and evolve over time just like great products.

How Not to Brand

You’re in a hurry. You’ve iterated through the build­-measure-­learn loop and have an MVP as well as a knowledge base you can leverage as you move forward.

It’s easy to forget about branding when you’re obsessed with the minimal number of features that allow you to ship a product to early adopters willing to pay you with their money and feedback.

You’re eager to ship which means it’s time to brand, right? Unfortunately this happens all too often; startups believe branding is something they can quickly add at the end.

Two mistakes often follow as time constraints amplify the pressure to brand quickly and correctly:

1. Analysis Paralysis ­- ​organizations become overwhelmed by analyzing customer feedback, differentiation,or market positioning and are overcome by inaction that leads to launching without a well­defined brand.

2. Outsource the Risk­​fledgling - organizations might also outsource the risk and hire an expensive outside branding firm to blame in the event the effort fails or because the organizations believes it lacks the ability to brand itself.

These mistakes can cost organizations both time and money, and distract from the process of shipping, building, and optimizing. Eventually, with time and capital running out, organizations are forced to launch with or without a well­defined brand.

This is a recipe for remaining invisible to those you wish to impress.

Brand as You Validate

Stop thinking of your brand as static. Instead, become comfortable with the idea that brands are fluid, adjustable, and evolve over time.

This doesn’t mean your purpose, values, or core beliefs waver. It simply requires you to develop your brand in real time and in the real world.

How so? Surveys and focus groups are expensive, time consuming, and often do not result in valid or reliable brand development information.

Consider as well that U.S. companies are expected to spend more than $200 billion on branding ­related advertisements this year, much of which will fail to move the needle.

Consider replacing this costly method with the one right in front of you; the ideation that is resulting in the MVP you so desperately want to brand. Not only are you learning about your customers and the pain points you’re attempting to relieve during the validation process, but you’re also learning about yourself and how your product fits into the story your target consumers are already telling themselves about you and the category you’re in.

Develop your brand right alongside your offering. In other words, your brand will find you once you train yourself to look for it.

The brand identification and product validation processes don’t have to happen in vacuums nor must they occur separately. Brand and product may be co­created simultaneously.

As you learn more about your product you’re also learning about how you are perceived in the market and how you can nudge those perceptions in ways that are beneficial to your future. You’re validating your offering but you’re also validating your brand.

How exactly then do you go about identifying your brand while validating?

Answer the following three questions to tease out your brand as you go:

Who are you really? Not your bio but your beliefs:

• the gap you fill and why you chose it

• the reason you’re unique or the angle you cut

• how you might position yourself creatively to avoid unfavorable comparisons or prompt favorable ones

What are you really selling? Not features or advantages but the feeling consumers should get from your offering and its benefits:

• the pain you alleviate or the joy you prompt

• the problem you solve or reposition

• the emotion you arouse or higher purpose for which you help others achieve ​

Who are they really? Not solely demographics or psychographics but the reasons people like your target consumers choose someone or something like you:

• the story your target consumers tell themselves about people and offerings like yours

• the niche or spot you might carve in that story and how you might frame your offering so it supports their role in the story as hero

• the triggers that would cause them to change how they purchase, consume, or use your offering

Remember, your brand doesn’t belong solely to you. Rather, it’s a story you co­create with prospects and customers you wish to impress and grow alongside.

Brand resides in the minds of those who create and believe in it.

What better time to start developing your brand narrative than at the outset; as you ideate and create an MVP? Identifying your brand’s core early and in real time will result in a more thoroughly developed and genuine brand later.

As your product evolves over time, so too will your brand. You’ll save the time and money others spend creating their brands from scratch or at the very end in a crunch. Validating your brand with your product means this; when one is ready to launch, so is the other.