11.26.2025

For over 20 years, we’ve sat down with excited new entrepreneurs ready to dive into logos and packaging, but we always start with the bigger picture question: how their idea will launch, grow, evolve, and become a real business.

They come seeking brand strategy, identity design, packaging, and other promotional materials to help them launch their new venture, but strategy is ultimately about positioning. In the same breath, we always bring up scale. What is the short-term plan, the long-term plan, and what is the exit strategy?

The path from an entrepreneurial idea to a sustainable business is rarely a straight line. It winds through unknown territory filled with market challenges, strategic decisions, and rapid adaptation. It tests not only an entrepreneur’s drive but also their ability to navigate shifting business ecosystems with clarity and resilience.

The First Spark of a Big Idea

Most entrepreneurs arrive with a potent mix of passion, optimism, and momentum. They expect our first meeting to revolve around logos, color palettes, and aesthetic direction. They are often surprised when the conversation shifts to their business plan, retail strategy, or how they intend to grow.

From day one of opening our studio, business discussion has been central to our process. Clients often mention that other studios they are shortlisting rarely ask about their business or scale considerations.

Over the years, our work has expanded far beyond brand strategy, positioning, identity, and packaging design. We now help clients find co-manufacturers, secure viable margins, develop investor decks, and plan retail rollouts in great detail. We also connect clients with food brokers and distributor partners to scale as quickly as possible.

Every entrepreneurial journey is different, and each one requires a plan that accounts for both the obvious challenges and hidden variables. By providing hands-on support beyond design, we help transform ideas into actual, profitable businesses, not side projects.

Seeing the Market with Clear Eyes

Early-stage founders often underestimate how complex and fast-moving the landscape is. Business models shift, consumer behavior evolves, and expectations for brand experiences continue to rise. Founders need a real plan to present themselves as established and capable from day one.

Perception matters. That is the power of strategy and design.

Brands that enter the market as category disruptors grow and scale faster. That quick growth becomes protection against economic shifts, changing technology, and global pressure.

The best entrepreneurs understand that success requires more than a strong product. It demands strategic thinking, emotional intelligence, differentiated positioning, and a brand designed to scale even with limited resources. Founders need awareness of:
• why strong companies fail
• how to adapt in changing environments
• emerging consumer behaviours
• category and out-of-category shifts
• how to create value through unique solutions

Turning Insight into Brand Energy

Entrepreneurs who succeed understand that strategy goes far beyond traditional research. It is inseparable from brand development and visibility. Research is no longer passive data; it is active investigation into consumer psychology, competitive pressure, and emerging opportunities. And none of this can rely solely on AI.

AI is helpful, but the big brand idea almost always lives between the lines. Our team draws insight from what the market is, what it could become, and where it may be heading. We guide clients to understand how research shapes positioning and how positioning shapes brand energy.

Modern designers must act as investigators, decoding unspoken customer needs, identifying hidden opportunities, understanding emotional buying triggers, and anticipating shifts before they happen. AI can support this process, but it cannot yet predict the future.

Great designers interpret data with strategic insight. They dig into motivations, aspirations, and pain points. They translate information into action. And they document it.

For over 20 years, we have refined HUE, our strategic brand discovery and development platform, to gather insight while keeping the HUman Experience at the center of every stage.

The Growth Equation

Many entrepreneurs with compelling ideas have not fully considered the realities of scale. Part of this comes from the endless myth of the founder who stumbles into success without a real plan. For every one of those stories, there are thousands of failures.

A recent project consultation made this clear. A young entrepreneur approached us with a craft root beer concept, convinced that extraordinary taste alone would drive the business. As the discussion continued, it became clear they had not accounted for shelf stability, category norms, or consumer acceptance.

Positioning can help engage consumers on any shelf compared with competitors, but scale is a different story.

The consideration of scale we presented to this young entrepreneur was simple: how many units need to be sold to earn even a modest salary of 120,000 dollars a year. The founder would need to:
• sell 10,000 units a month
• maintain at least 1 dollar profit per unit
• expand into over 200 retail stores
• navigate distribution
• manage growing production

Our goal was not to discourage; it was to illuminate reality. The simple math was just to show what was required to pay their salary, not including other business expenses. The founder had never calculated what it would take to pay themselves. It was not impossible, but it required a level of commitment and planning they had not yet considered.

Some might question whether these discussions go beyond the role of a design studio or branding. We believe they are essential. We want clients to succeed, not simply become another portfolio piece.

What It Really Takes to Grow

Entrepreneurship is a climb. Success depends on mindset, emotional intelligence, technical skill, and market awareness. Start-up owners need to ask: Do I have the stamina to climb the path ahead?

The most successful founders we have worked with show resilience early on. They have a brand plan and a scale plan. They move through uncertainty and maintain momentum. Adaptability becomes their superpower. Quick pivots become survival tools. Stress management becomes a strategic advantage. Those who can manage their own stress create stronger, more sustainable pathways for growth.

The Three Year Launch Window

Through experience, we coined the term The Three Year Entrepreneurial Window. The first three years are a narrow survival window, a steep pass where one misstep can determine whether a business grows or collapses. During this period, founders face overlapping challenges that test their strategy and mindset. Many sacrifice income, personal time, and stability as they push toward their goal.

If the big idea is not profitable by way of scaling quickly or clearly headed there, many founders step away. And to be clear, we do not see that as failure. Most entrepreneurs do not win on their first idea. It is part of the evolution. But planning can create better odds.

Our goal in discussing scale and the three-year window is simple: help founders understand the journey before they commit to it.

Nobody wants to become the founder who spent ten years and their life savings on a “better than everyone else” salsa business that never gained traction, only to have the Dragon’s Den or Shark Tank Kevin O’Leary, aka Mr. Wonderful, tell them they should have given up nine years ago and to bury their nacho chips in the backyard and move on.

Designing a Future Worth Building

The entrepreneurial journey is a winding trail filled with obstacles, insights, and unexpected opportunities. It requires ongoing learning, strategic clarity, and the understanding that success lives at the intersection of vision, market insight, and disciplined execution.

Founders who approach their venture with humility, curiosity, and a commitment to understanding the market are best positioned to grow. The goal is not perfection; it is progress. The seasoned climber knows the summit is reached through consistent, steady movement.

In the end, successful entrepreneurship is less about having the perfect idea and more about building the capability to turn that idea into a compelling brand with strong positioning and a scalable, resilient business model.

And that is why our second question will always be: What is your plan to scale the business?

Ready to transform your big idea into a brand that scales? Let’s develop a strategy and identity that resonates with your audience and sets you up for growth.

Article by Cory Ripley, Principal, Creative Director and Strategist at Exhibit A: Design Group, a full-service strategic brand-building boutique studio. He is also a program advisor and sessional instructor at various design universities in Vancouver, Canada. He has taught past courses on Design Thinking and Advertising Design. He currently instructs a Retail Packaging Workshop in Capilano University’s IDEA Program. His award-winning strategic brand design work has been featured in the National Post, Communication Arts, Applied Arts, and GDUSA.