Cheap branding costs your business a lot more than you save. 

At Hola Luz, many of our clients come to us after investing under $200 in a logo or designing it themselves in Canva. This isn’t something to be ashamed of! Getting started is always something to be celebrated.

But when you’re ready to be seen as the professional you are, it’s time to move on from the cheap or DIY logo you started with. 

Cheap branding is holding you back from expanding your services, getting more visibility, and being recognized and remembered. 

So if you’re currently trying to grow a business with a $15 Fiverr logo, a Canva website template, and a growing sense of dread every time you have to share your website link with a potential client… this post is for you. 

Key Takeaways

• Cheap branding comes with financial and opportunity costs
• Latinas and WOC should use their brand to level the playing field 
• A $50 logo doesn’t include the research, competitive analysis, and brand messaging you need to stand out
• Investing in your brand increases your confidence, authority, respect, and recognition
• A cheap brand is not built to be used on multiple platforms 
• The right brand makes it easier to grow and scale your business, expand your services, and charge premium prices 
• Hola Luz is a Latina-owned brand design studio that understands the specific challenges facing Latinas and WOC in business and has a specific brand process that gives you more clarity, confidence, and the ability to charge what you’re worth 

How does cheap branding hurt my business?

A “bad” brand is inconsistent, unrecognizable, and generic. 

And the Brand Leadership Institute found that companies with inconsistent branding across platforms saw a 23% drop in customer recognition. 

That means a cheap brand is hurting your reputation, visibility, and position in the market. 

Cheap branding can cost your business:

• Lost revenue from confused customers who can’t remember you
• Increase in cost of customer acquisition 
• More money for marketing because your brand isn’t doing any of the work 
• Lost clients from people who want to buy from someone they connect with
• Potential revenue because you can’t charge the premium prices you deserve 

The opportunity costs of cheap branding

Your customers have endless choices. If you don’t stand out and grab attention, your people will quickly and easily go somewhere else. 

The customers who are willing and ready to pay high-ticket prices for premium services and experiences are looking for a premium brand that visually matches their expectations. 

Choosing not to invest in high-quality, strategic branding means being passed over and ignored, even if you’re the best at what you do. 

Your brand communicates the value of your expertise, perspective, and skills. You need a strong brand if you want to build partnerships, book speaking opportunities, and get press coverage. 

Cheap branding can make it harder to scale your business because it’s not designed to grow.

Why do Latinas and WOC need to invest in branding? 

As Latinas and women of color, we’re already fighting against biases and assumptions about our skills, experience, and capabilities. You don’t want a DIY brand to make it even harder for you to get the attention and respect you deserve. 

A weak brand reinforces the stereotypes we work so hard to break. 

When Latinas and WOC invest in their branding, it becomes an equity tool. A strategic brand levels the playing field. You can overcome a lot of unfair biases and misconceptions with a strong brand.

Can I use a cheap logo for my business?

A $5 logo is tempting. We all have limited budgets, and everyone has to start somewhere. If you need a logo to get started, using a cheaper option to get you up and running can work.

But paying less for your logo than you would for a delivery pizza won’t get you the long-term results you need. 

Cheap logos are often designed for one platform or use. That means when you want to print your logo on merch, create a sign for your business, or use your logo on social media… it doesn’t work. It’s too big, too small, or super pixelated and fuzzy. 

Another serious concern with using a logo you got from Fiverr? They have a stated policy that says they do not check work for plagiarism or copyright. You could run into expensive legal issues if the logo you’re using already belongs to an established business. 

A similar issue with cheap logos is buying one from a designer who uses the same Canva template for multiple customers. You could end up with a logo that dozens (or hundreds!) of other businesses already have. 

Authority is an important factor in how Google ranks websites. A pixelated, low-res logo can hurt your visibility if Google interprets your site as untrustworthy. 

Yes, you can use a cheap logo. But there are a number of serious concerns and issues that come with it. If a custom brand isn’t in the budget in the beginning stages of your business, it should be one of the first things you save and plan to invest in. 

What makes a good brand? 

We understand the financial and opportunity costs of choosing a cheap logo instead of investing in a custom brand. 

But what does a custom brand include that makes it more effective and worth the thousand-plus dollars? 

Let’s look at why a custom brand gets better results and delivers serious ROI. 

The discovery process

When you buy a cheap logo from Fiverr or a Canva template, there is no process included to help the designer learn about you and your business. 

No one looks into your story, values, mission, vision, or the unique position you want to achieve within your industry. 

The designer isn’t completing market research or doing a competitive analysis to see what’s trending in your niche. 

They aren’t starting with a messaging strategy or brand positioning. There’s no strategy involved in a cheap logo. 

At Hola Luz, we spend hours on the strategy piece of your brand before we ever pick a color or attempt to design a logo. 

We spend time with you, getting to know more about your journey, cultura, and unique perspective. 

That $15 logo can’t tell your story because no one bothered to ask if you even have a story. 

The confidence tax

Cheap branding makes your brand look cheap, dated, or boring. 

This results in a website you’re embarrassed to share, so you hope no one ever asks to see it instead of using it as the marketing tool it should be. 

When you don’t have a strategic brand, you’ll often find yourself apologizing for your visual branding. You make excuses before you even share your website link or send your pricing guide. 

You may also hesitate to pitch yourself for visibility opportunities because you don’t feel confident standing behind your brand or putting it out in the world for everyone to see. 

The ultimate confidence tax? Undercharging. When you don’t feel confident in your brand, you can’t bring yourself to charge the premium prices your services are worth. When you don’t look the part, it’s hard to charge what you should.

This confidence tax is even higher for Latinas and WOC. We’re already taught to stay in our lane, be humble, not take up space, and that asking for more is selfish. 

This makes it easier for us to hide behind a cheap brand. It may even feel safer or like the “right” thing to do. 

But a cheap brand only reinforces our social conditioning. It tells everyone that your business is just a “cute little side hustle” instead of the serious business it is. Cheap logos keep Latinas and WOC from charging more and highlighting our skills and value. 

It’s not your job to change your prices to fit someone else’s budget. When you invest in a custom brand that increases your confidence, you’ll find yourself with more money you can use to make an impact in your community instead of defaulting to doing cheap or free charity work.

What does strategic branding do for my business?

When you invest in the strategic branding process with Hola Luz, you will actually get more clarity on every aspect of your business. 

We take you through a deep discovery process that uncovers parts of your story, process, and offers that you didn’t even know were relevant. We’ll help you define your position within the market in a way that makes competitors irrelevant. You become a category of one. 

We’re geniuses at turning your lived experiences, background, and cultura into the differentiator that makes you more desirable, more visible, and more successful. 

Visual tools and assets you can use 

When you choose a custom brand instead of a cheap logo, you’ll receive a visual system that helps you understand how to market your business and makes it easier to show up consistently across all platforms.  

At Hola Luz, we include core messaging that resonates with your people so you know what to say and who to say it to. This is also a great tool to use to help AI sound more like you and less like a deranged robot. 

A strategic brand makes it possible to delegate without losing the heart of your brand. When your visual assets and brand messaging are clearly defined, you can confidently hire team members or outside experts to take the marketing off your hands because they have everything they need to replicate your vision.

A strategic brand = more sales 

The confidence you’ll gain from having a strategic, intentional brand is unmatched. But you’ll also see real financial gains as well.

Forbes reported that consistent branding can boost sales by up to 23%. And businesses with clear identities? They enjoy 3.5x more visibility. 

Our clients consistently charge 2-3x once we launch their rebrand, and they report that they’re booking premium clients who don’t question their rates or try to haggle on prices. 

Ultimately, your brand should be the main driver of helping you work less and get paid more. 

A strong brand that’s designed to grow with you opens up future possibilities, too. Our clients are finally able to expand their business outside of their current services to launch podcasts, create conferences, book speaking engagements, sell digital products, create memberships, and so much more. 

When is it time to invest in a custom brand?

Everyone can’t start with a custom brand, and that’s okay. Understanding the value of your brand is the first step. 

If you’re thinking about rebranding or investing in your first custom brand, here are some signs you’re probably ready:

• You’re embarrassed by your current brand
• You’re losing clients to better-branded competitors
• You’re undercharging and know it’s because of how you look
• You get ghosted and push back from potential clients because you are “too expensive”
• Your vision has outgrown your brand
• You want to expand your reach
• Expand your services 
• You’re ready to be seen and get paid 

Investing in your brand is about a lot more than paying for a logo. You should work with a designer who prioritizes strategy and offers a full-service brand design process. 

Your brand should give your business the credibility and trust you need to book premium clients, the confidence to charge what your offers are worth, and a foundation that’s built to grow with you. 

Above all, you deserve a brand that celebrates your cultura instead of hiding it!

Ready to upgrade your brand? 

Hola Luz Creative Studio is a Latina-owned business. We deeply understand the pressure to do everything con las uñas. 

But your brand deserves better than good enough. 

When you’re ready to achieve more and build something you haven’t seen someone in your community build… we’re here to help you make that happen. 

Let’s design a brand that makes you proud of what you’re building and the impact you’re making! 

Click here to check out our branding services and learn more about our custom brand process.