Your Ultimate Guide to Building a Brand Solo

Are you struggling with building your brand?

Mary, a freelance designer, chose to build her brand herself due to a tight budget. Meanwhile, startup founder Kevin devoted some of his investment capital to hire a professional agency.

Both are solo entrepreneurs, yet they made very different choices after weighing the pros and cons of self-branding vs. hiring experts.

Fun fact: Nike started with a logo designed by a student for just $35, while Pepsi paid $1 million for a logo redesign.

So, what’s the best option for small business owners?

Branding in 2025: What To Know

First up, some shocking statistics:

• By 2023, 48% of small businesses were already using AI tools.

• DIY branding typically costs between $10–$50, while hiring professionals can cost anywhere from $1,000–$10,000.

• 50% of small businesses redesign their logo within 5 years.

2025 Trends:

AI branding tools are going mainstream. We’re seeing the “lean branding“ strategy, which employs an incremental approach to small business marketing, rising in popularity. As such, the lines between DIY marketing and professional marketing are becoming blurred.

Self-Branding: DIY-ing Your Business’s Brand

Let’s start with the pros:

Minimal startup costs

• There is no labor cost to create your brand yourself. The only costs are small expenses for AI tool subscriptions or image assets.

• As Nike proved, it’s possible to create a viral logo and marketing strategy with just $35.

Speed & flexibility

• You’re in charge of your own schedule. You can work late into the night when inspiration strikes.

• Back-and-forth communications with other designers won’t cause any delays.

• With the help of AI tools, it’s possible to build a brand identity in just 5 minutes.

• You can quickly and easily update your brand elements to match shifting trends.

Stronger ownership of your brand

• You’ll feel more attached to your brand story and understand it more deeply.

• There’s no need to explain your ideas to someone else.

• Your own voice and vision will closely shape the brand.

• You company’s brand will naturally connect to any of your personal branding.

Learning opportunities

• You’ll gain marketing knowledge and a sense for design.

• Tons of free tutorials are available on YouTube and other avenues online.

• Design literacy is becoming a core skill for entrepreneurs.

• This experience would help in future content creation and marketing campaigns.

Now, the cons:

Quality limitations due to lack of expertise

• Your designs might look amateurish without experience.

• Even small imperfections in your font, color, and layout can reduce your content’s impact.

• Without experience, your content may lack the success ensured by proper market research or brand strategies.

• Even AI-generated results still need to be refined and checked.

Time-consuming and error-prone

• By saving money, you’re sacrificing your time.

• A single logo can take days, or even weeks, of refining.

• As the head of your business, this could eat into time that would be better put towards product development or sales.

• Needing to redo the work later will use up even more time.

Hard to maintain consistency

• Even if you start strong, it's easy to lose brand coherence over time.

• Designing new content for additional purposes may create a scattered brand image.

• Without expert guidance, your brand consistency may suffer, along with your customers’ trust in your business’s identity.

Limited creative perspective

• You're stuck with your own ideas.

• You may miss trends or rely too heavily on your personal tastes.

• As an amateur, you have a high risk of misjudging market reactions.

• You may rely on pre-made, widely-available templates, which run the risk of blending in with your competition’s materials and even looking cheap.

Hiring Experts: Building Your Brand with Professionals

Pros

Expertise & polish

• Pros consider the emotional impact that highly specific details like font thickness, color psychology, etc., will have on potential customers.

• A professional-level attention to detail makes the price feel worthwhile.

• Having industry knowledge ensures that your brand will be relevant in your specific industry and community.

• Their strategies are demonstrably backed by market research and competitor analyses.

Structured process & brand consistency

• Pros will give you clear steps to take for your entire branding journey, from strategy, to naming, to visual design, to practical applications.

• You will be able to workshop different ideas with a project manager.

• The final deliverables will include a brand guideline document.

• Using consistent branding can boost sales by 23%. Check out this article for more information about the importance of brand consistency.

Saves your time

• The expert becomes your guide.

• You make decisions, and they execute.

• This frees you up to focus on other core business needs.

Creative ideas & outside perspective

• Ideas that you would never have thought of alone would contribute to your brand.

• You’ll have access to brainstorming from multiple professionals.

• You’ll have access to objective brand strategies that align with your goals.

• Experience that magical moment when you think, “Yes, that’s exactly what I wanted!”

Cons

High costs

• Even logo designs from solo freelancers can cost between $500-$2,000.

• Agency branding packages typically cost thousands of dollars.

• Costs can add up through revisions and alternative versions.

• Experts recommend investing 5–15% of your startup budget into branding, but this can be a tough ask for smaller businesses

Longer timelines

• Simple jobs take 1–2 weeks.

• Full branding projects take 4–6 weeks or more.

• Agency-level projects can take up to 2–3 months.

• Rebranding an established business can take between 6 months to a year.

Communication issues

• You’ll have less control over the final output.

• It can be difficult to communicate your specific vision.

• Back-and-forth communications can be stressful and lengthen the amount of time you need to invest.

• Ongoing support can be inconvenient.

Hard to find the right expert

• In order to hire a professional, you need to carefully vet lots of options for their portfolios and skills.

• Finding someone with the right skills that also falls within your budget can be difficult.

• Contract negotiations are a hassle.

• Having too many options to choose from can lead to decision fatigue.

Quick Comparison: DIY vs Hiring a Pro

AI Tools Are Changing Branding in 2025

AI marketing and branding tools have gone mainstream. We’ve entered an era where AI can handle your branding for you.

What’s changing?

One-stop SaaS branding and marketing platforms like Tidy-B are on the rise, and popular design tools like Adobe Express and Canva Brand Kit are widely available. More than 40% of small business owners now use AI-based design tools.

Innovative AI tool features include:

• Cloud-based brand asset management

• Share/edit with team members

• Version control

• Solo entrepreneurs can now run pro-level brand systems

Hybrid Branding Models Are Gaining Popularity

Designers are collaborating with AI:

• Start by generating drafts with AI

• Then, a professional designer refines the final versions

• This speeds up the process while keeping quality high

New service models:

• Brand strategy: human consultants

• Visual assets: AI-generated, designer-approved

• Split workflows mean higher levels efficiency

Handle Your Own Branding in Five Minutes with Tidy-B

Tidy-B’s Revolutionary Method

Solves the issues and stressors caused by traditional branding methods:

• Just answer a few questions and get a full brand in 5 minutes

• 90% faster and cheaper than hiring experts

• Auto-generates logo, colors, fonts, and a consistent brand identity

Tidy-B’s Structured Process:

1. Ascertains your brand’s vision and mission through an interactive questionnaire

2. AI analyzes your answers and creates a tailored marketing strategy

3. Auto-generates a logo, color palette, and fonts

4. Includes one-click design assets for marketing materials

5. Managed on cloud for collaboration

With Tidy-B, what used to take a week now takes 2 hours. It maintains consistency with version control. A Filipino restaurant unified their signage interior design using Tidy-B and saw local success as a result.

Which Branding Approach is Right for You?

DIY branding is best for business owners who…

• …are in the pre-revenue stage with no budget to devote to branding.

• …need to launch within 1–2 weeks.

• …have an interest in or talent for graphic design.

• …have a simple brand image.

• …want to personally share their story.

Tips for Success:

• Start with AI-generated drafts.

• Use free fonts and color inspiration.

• Don’t waste time waiting for perfection. It’s better to just get started and improve over time.

Hiring experts is best for business owners who…

• …are in industries where branding is key to your success (fashion, beauty, etc.).

• …have upwards of a thousand dollars to devote to their branding budget.

• …lack experienced design skills.

• …have a flexible timeline leading up to your business’s launch (between two and three months).

• …need to align their brand with a team or with partners.

Tips for Success:

• Choose experts who have experience working with other brands in your industry.

• Be honest and upfront about your budget.

• Provide clear briefs and reference images for the designers to work with.

A hybrid approach is best for business owners who…

• …started with the DIY strategy, but reached their limit.

• …need expert help in specific areas.

• …can invest up to $1,000.

• …are in need of a brand refresh.

Smart Strategy:

• Only hire pros for key elements of your brand.

• Assess the assets that you have currently available and fill in the gaps.

• Keep what works and outsource what doesn’t.

Major Shifts in Branding Trends in 2025

Rise of the “Lean Branding” Strategy

“Lean Branding” involves launching quickly with a simple, bare-bones brand identity. Then, based on customer feedback, businesses evolve their brand identity through time and experience gained while actively working in the real industry. This strategy relies on starting now in order to grow, and then refining your brand image and marketing capabilities later.

Personal Branding Matters More

For small businesses, the founder is typically the face of the brand. Nowadays, trends show founders communicating directly with their customer base via social media and in-person sales. Today’s consumers want brands that feel human, and direct contact with them as the founder is one of the most effective ways of achieving this.

Hybrid is the New Normal

Hybrid strategies are quickly replacing the old, standardized “DIY vs. Expensive Experts” binary that we’ve come to expect. Nowadays, complete brands are made through individualized efforts, supplemented by input from experts. With the arsenal of AI tools and professional marketers out there, you can choose the perfect combination of individual effort and outside help for your exact situation.

So, What Style of Branding Works Best for You?

Key Takeaways:

1. There’s no one right answer. What your business needs depends on your specific business type, skill level, and the resources you have at your disposal. Just like choosing between solo-backpacking across Europe or joining a guided tour, you can decide whether or not to tackle your own branding journey based on your sense of confidence, risk-aversion, and availability of resources.

2. 2025 offers more choices than ever. AI tools are lowering the barrier to entry for marketing and branding. Today, even professionals are using AI to cut down on time and costs. Hybrid models for branding allow small business owners to get the best of both worlds.

3. Branding is a journey. You don’t need to have a perfect brand identity starting from day one. What matters is that your brand grows and evolves as your niche develops. Respond to customer feedback and figure out what works and what doesn’t through real experience in the market. After all, your own passion and dedication is what truly gives your brand its soul.

As a solo entrepreneur, your brand is an extension of yourself. Whether you decide to DIY your marketing strategies or choose to bring in experts, you’ll definitely build something amazing, as long as you’re sure to pick the right partners and stay flexible.

Which branding path will you choose?