Medice, cura te ipsum
- Gizem Tore
- Apr 23
- 3 min read
Between frustration and imposter syndrome, I launched my business. Yay! The journey started when I thought I could do some freelancing in marketing and design, until I got things sorted out. That meant:
Finding my purposeful dream job, getting employed to do what I love most: good, purposeful, sustainable, creative, impactful, data-based, humane marketing.
Creating positive change, feeling proud not only of paying taxes but also of contributing to social innovation.
Being an inspiration, especially to my daughter, who still wonders why I wouldn't work at an office in Denmark, even though I once did so for some of her favourite brands.
Skipping the whole discussion on how our self-worth is entangled with performance, here I am, where I am meant to be: Offering marketing and design solutions to SMEs.
I was expecting a mix of emotions such as insecurity, fear, self-doubt, bursts of overconfidence followed by more doubt again, that come with entrepreneurship. What I didn’t expect was a professional blind spot. I thought I didn’t need a thorough market research or positioning. As a professional, I had it all figured out in my head. Until I didn’t.
Initially, I built my website for employers and HR professionals, so it had a completely different audience. When I pivoted to launching my own business, the site had to change. I thought I knew my new audience, which was small and medium-sized business owners. So I changed the structure, visuals, and messaging with them in mind. I worked on the site while working for a client. I absorbed every word they said as insight into my own path.
But I had skipped some basic steps: market research and proper positioning. When I showed the site to my partner, he echoed the same classic marketing principles I’d repeated to him a thousand times. Before he even finished speaking, I dove headfirst into market research.
That’s when it hit me: I didn’t have a clear value proposition.
I’d always known that crafting one is a process, detailed and demanding. And for what? Just a couple of words? Surely, I could come up with something.
Well, not really.
What Brand Positioning Really Is
Brand positioning is not just about your vision, mission, and values. It is a gateway:
to truly understand your audience, even when you think you already do.
to offer your products in a way your audience will instantly grasp, both visually and verbally.
to develop products tailored to your customers' needs.
to explore new markets and audiences.
to price more strategically.
to plan where and how you connect with your audience.
to spark that genius campaign idea.
...and to open the door to other valuable, serendipitous insights.
Let it be an ongoing process. Even if you don’t have resources to do the work for you, make time to do it yourself. Your brand is worth the effort.
The Reality Check: Entrepreneurship in Denmark
Every year, around 30,000 new enterprises are born in Denmark, and 35,000 are closed.(Statistics Denmark) While Denmark’s enterprise birth rate is higher than the EU average, its death rate is also higher. Most closures happen in the first year. In fact, the one-year survival rate for Danish enterprises is among the lowest in the EU. (Eurostat)
This depends on many variables, but one takeaway is clear: that first year is crucial. A strong start, with clear positioning can serve as a guiding light in the tunnel until you finally see daylight.
So, while I can’t claim I’ve applied the same diligence to my own brand as I do for my clients, I’ve started. And that matters.
It takes time for the physician to heal herself.
“This post was created by me, from the initial idea to the final wording. It was lightly polished by ChatGPT for grammar, clarity, and readability. You're always welcome to ask for the original version.”
