You paid for a logo. A year later there are five versions of it in use, the colours have drifted, and the new flyer uses a font nobody chose. Nobody did anything wrong. There just wasn't a rulebook.
That's what brand guidelines are for. They aren't only for big companies. A few pages can save a small business a lot of quiet mess.
What brand guidelines are
Brand guidelines are a short document that says how your brand looks and sounds, so anyone making something for you can get it right without asking.
For a small business, that can be five to ten pages. It doesn't need to be a glossy book. It needs to be clear, up to date and easy to find.
Think of it as the answer sheet. When the sign maker asks for your logo, the printer asks for your colours, or a new hire writes their first social post, the answer is already written down.
What goes in them
Keep it to what people actually need. A good set usually covers:
- Your logo, and how to use it. The main version, a simpler one for small spaces, and versions for light and dark backgrounds. How much space to leave around it, and what not to do: no stretching, no new colours, no drop shadows.
- Your colours, with their codes. HEX and RGB for screens, CMYK for print, and Pantone if you print a lot. Say which colours are the main ones and which are accents.
- Your fonts. One for headings, one for body text, and where to get them. If your brand font isn't free, name a free fallback from Google Fonts for documents and email.
- Your voice. Three or four words for how you sound, a few phrases you always use and a few you never do, with a before and after.
- Your photos. What good photos of your business look like: real people, real work, and the light and mood you want, with a few examples.
- Examples in use. A business card, a social post, an email signature and the van or sign. Seeing it applied answers most questions.
Who uses them
More people than you'd think. Anyone who makes something with your name on it:
- Your team, making flyers, posts, quotes and presentations.
- Printers and sign makers, who need exact colours and the right files.
- Whoever runs your social media, posting in your voice several times a week.
- Web designers and developers, building your site and anything new on it.
- Partners and sponsors, putting your logo next to theirs.
- New hires, learning how you talk to customers.
In businesses where lots of people make things, like real estate agents making their own listing flyers or a wellness studio where several instructors post, guidelines are the difference between one brand and a dozen versions of it.
Nobody did anything wrong. There just wasn't a rulebook.
Keeping them alive
Guidelines only work if people use them. Most fail by being forgotten, not by being wrong.
- Keep one copy, in one place. A shared folder with the guide and every logo file, or a brand kit in Canva or Figma that people make things from directly.
- Name one owner. One person decides what's on brand, answers questions and updates the guide.
- Update it when things change. A new service, a new photo style or a refreshed logo should be in the guide the same week.
- Show it to every new person, inside the team and out, before they make anything.
If you don't have guidelines yet, start with the basics: logo files, colour codes and fonts on a single page. You can add voice and photos later.
Or we can do it properly. Our brand work ends with a full set of guidelines and every file you'll need, and our social media team works from them every month. For the bigger picture, here's what a brand really means for a small business.
