Week 3 Part B: Developing a Brand

For this assignment, as I do not currently operate a business I will be answering the questions for a fictitious business. It has always been an interest for me to work with animals, shortly after my fiance and I got together I discovered a love for reptiles and an interest in breeding them and sharing this interest with others. While this is still a newer industry, there is only a few reptile stores that are deemed as doing legit business online and the rest either sell sick animals or do not send your purchase at all. Owning a reptile may not be as rewarding as having a dog or a cat but I want to educate people on why owning reptile's is not only beneficial but rewarding in it's own way.

My goal for this business was always for it to be a family-owned business that will be ran by my fiance and myself. We have already discussed potential name's for our future business and have come up with Manley's Dragon's & Exotics, so the logo that we will utilize will include our business name and a picture of one of our bearded dragons as well as a picture of one of our other exotic animals. This logo will tell our customers that our business has something to do with bearded dragons as well as other exotic animals. Our business will include breeding and selling bearded dragon baby's, and potentially other exotic animals such as tarantulas. 

Before we can even begin to think about making a website for our business we need to make sure that we apply for a business license and all certifications. As we will be dealing with exotic animals we need to make sure that we have the proper license to sell and ship our reptiles around the United States. After obtaining all of the necessary paperwork to be able to start our business, we will need to focus on what kind of shop we will be. Will this be a strictly online business or will it be a local business? As this will be a family-owned business we decided that it will be ran from the comfort of our own home as this will give us ample time to ensure that our animals are getting the proper care and food that they need.

When creating our website, the theme that we want to have is Halloween. This is not only a favorite holiday for a lot of people but reptiles to some individuals are spooky in itself so it seems like this would be the perfect theme. We will have a black background with red lettering, and we will have different tabs for each of the animals that we will have listed on our website. The font that we will use will be gothic lettering to tie in the dark and spooky look theme we are going for. With all of these elements combined, it will give our customers that Halloween feel while peaking their interest to the animals that we have listed on our website. 

Building a brand is crucial to success in the reptile industry, being in reptile groups on Facebook the amount of shops that are seen as legit are few. Being in these groups can help you promote your brand and bring more business to your website. But having a Facebook for your business is not nearly enough, promoting your business on multiple platforms will help ensure that your business name and logo is getting out there to potential customers. After establishing your business on social media platforms it is essential to keep your platforms up to date, for our business we will be posting at least a few times a week. Whether it be animals that will be coming soon, cute pictures, or even facts we will always try to make sure that our platforms are up to date. Our end game goal is to bring the reptile industry to every home in the United States, an industry that is seen as taboo being turned into a trend.