Building a business? Your personal style is hurting your brand
You make your cup of coffee—the first of many throughout the day.
Your inbox is a jungle of emails waiting to be answered. Your to-do list is three pages deep. You throw off your robe, slide into your comfiest sweats, and begin your typical day as an entrepreneur building something big.
Your expertise?
Your passion?
Your drive?
All there.
But your wardrobe? Seriously lacking.
That’s not just hurting your personal brand—it’s hurting your business, too.
A distinct personal brand involves not just your online presence, but also your in-person appearance.
In other words, what you wear has a significant effect on your success as a business owner.
While the world at large assumes the work-from-home life is code for a day spent entirely in your sweats, make no mistake: your business is suffering from this.
What you wear can influence your cognitive abilities.
Science backs this up.
A study showed that “wearing formal business attire increased abstract thinking—an important aspect of creativity and long-term strategizing. The experiments suggest the effect is related to feelings of power.”
Creativity and long-term strategizing: two integral parts of the entrepreneurial journey.
In another study, researchers found that subjects who wore casual clothing during a negotiation were less successful at landing profitable deals than their counterparts who dressed the part.
This means that even if you are negotiating through phone or email, your wardrobe influences your negotiation skills—and that’s the difference between the big bucks or a deal fallen flat.
Don’t wait to dress the part.
Develop your wardrobe now to set yourself up for entrepreneurial success through your personal brand.
Because when the investment meetings do come? When your biggest client wants to meet to go over your proposal? When you’re invited to present at that conference?
I’ve seen too many clients crack under the pressure of needing to put together a professional look at the last minute.
Trust me, you’d rather spend five minutes prepping your go-to, tailored business wardrobe than hours wandering department stores wondering which pieces will convey your authority and expertise.
After all, you should be spending that chunk of time tweaking your presentation, not freaking out over what you’ll wear.
A distinct look matters anywhere you go—from meetings with investors to the meat counter at the grocery store.
Your appearance matters during more occasions than just big business decisions or presentations. Running errands is not an excuse to throw on those decade-old yoga pants and a ripped tee.
As a business owner, you should always be prepared to pitch your business while in public. After all, you never know who you might run into while out. And your appearance plays just as much a part in your pitch as your words.
As a business owner myself, I always have at least a swipe of lipstick and blush on when I leave the house—this helps with communication.
Add an accessory to up the ante on your authority.
Adding an accessory can quickly dress up your authority and add personality to your outfit. My favorite go-to accessory is a scarf—it’s versatile, lasts a lifetime, and is a power piece for women, similar to a tie.
Plus, wearing a scarf in your best colors (you can find this through a color consultation) brightens your face, making you look energetic and credible.
And while this may not be as popular of a trend in the United States, I do love a scarf on a man!
Otherwise, men should always wear a watch—this portrays authority and trust.
Discover your personal brand to help build your actual brand with the help of an image consultant.
An image consultant is the perfect partner for developing your personal brand and contributing to your entrepreneurial success.
Image consultants take your goals into account when helping you discover your signature style and choose colors that communicate your credibility and confidence.
And that will support your success just as much as those 12-hour days you’re already putting in to grow your business.
If you’re local to the Cincinnati, Ohio region, I’m accepting limited bookings for ambitious, goal-oriented clients.
If that’s you, let’s work together to determine which colors and styles make you look radiant, authentic, and capable.
Learn more about how a color consultation and style consultation can transform your look and take your business to the next level.
