“I wasn’t happy with the work that I had been doing with a previous design agency”
We knew just how to help Setting Up Shop stand out, be heard and grow.
Setting Up Shop is a highly successful small business that helps shops, cafés and restaurants navigate stressful tenancy and fitout processes so they can open a new shop or food business – helping with everything from finding a premises to planning for a successful opening day.
Karyn said, “I wasn’t happy with the work that a previous design agency had done for me and felt they didn’t get me or my business at all. The end result wasn’t in line with my values and felt half-assed. It just looked awful! My offer wasn’t clear and the site confused potential clients. The site reflected poorly on me and my brand. But I couldn’t even articulate properly what was wrong with it, it just wasn’t right.”
We also discovered Karyn and her company’s expertise and rich and diverse track record of bringing shops across Brisbane to life – from many of the big-name brands you know to new endeavours by small-business owner-operators. We went on to hero and celebrate this track record in both her website and capability brochure design.
They made me realise that just as I am an expert in my field, they are experts in theirs, and I didn’t have to know it all. They pulled my brand identity out of me without me even realising that it was happening and showed me how great my brand could look. They also helped me see the amazing projects I have worked on – for some reason I had a bit of a block with that and found it hard to recognise the great results I had achieved. Leith and John were so enthusiastic about my business and offering that I felt re-energised, as well as getting a great new website!
Some key issues with the previous site were that, despite it being pleasant to look at:
BEFOREThe client’s previous website: a template site with irrelevant residential stock photography
AFTEROur redesigned site: a tailored site with custom photography of actual stores that Setting Up Shop brought to life
We then used these images generously and in full colour on the website and in her capability brochure, demonstrating the business’ breadth of experience at a glance on every page.
We designed the website to best display its content (rather than placing content in to fit a preexisting template).
Plus by including the logos of 30 of the big-name clients Karyn and her team had set up shop for, we further highlighted the brand’s credibility and experience.
We rewrote and judiciously trimmed the copy, added large, easy-to-navigate and engaging headings, and ensured we positioned the customer as the hero of the Setting Up Shop brand story at every touchpoint.
All across the website, we talked about the customer’s pain points and how Setting Up Shop could solve them to instantly reassure clients that they’d come to the right business for help. Plus, we clearly explained the business’ offering, which is especially important in an industry that is not well known by its potential clients. And our strategy for every page included inspiring customers to action by adding compelling CTAs on every page.
Lots of my contacts mentioned how great my new site looked. Several asked me who had done it for me. While I don’t sell through my website and it is more for brand credibility, I saw an uptick in the number of people looking at the site, and people were looking at several of the pages instead of just one. So, the new site Lovehate Design+Brand wrote and designed for me was clearly more engaging and informative than my previous site. New prospects that I talk to have also looked at the site a lot more often than they used to, and they talk enthusiastically about the new site when we meet.
A capability brochure acts like a sales person that you leave behind in a client’s hands. So, you want it to be something they want to pick up and something that establishes your brand at a glance, no matter which page they open to.
Via lush, full-colour photographic spreads we demonstrated what this powerhouse small business is capable of. We ensured the copy was succinct and relevant, while being a pleasure to read. And we included case studies and testimonials, to further build credibility while telling the company’s story.
And our client is very happy…
I don’t have the design language they are used to using, so wasn’t confident that I could explain what I was thinking, but Lovehate Design+Brand spoke my language and always managed to get the info they needed out of me. And the results were fantastic. While I greatly value creativity, I find that some designers can be quite off-putting, and that is not the case with Lovehate Design+Brand at all. It was never just one solution – they are happy to provide options and discuss the merits of each. They are easy to talk to, and I laugh a lot during our meetings – they make it fun to work on my business instead of a chore. If you need help with communicating about your business, give them a call. They will look after you so well.
