"Branding is not about getting your prospects to choose you over your competition," Adams said. "Branding is about getting your prospects to see you as the only solution to their problem."

Adams said that brand development starts when a business creates a SWOT analysis. SWOT stands for a business' strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The strengths and weaknesses are internal to the business, she said. An automotive repair shop's strengths may be that they have ASE-certified technicians and a large customer base. Weaknesses may be a lack of diagnostic equipment and outdated computers. 

 
Opportunities and threats on the other hand are external, Adams said.  Opportunities could be that another repair shop in the area went out of business or a new automotive publication opened in the area, she said; threats could be that there is a lot of road construction going on around your shop or that relationship with a vendor ends.

  
"The SWOT analysis really keeps you thinking in the right direction about what is important about your business," she said.

Adams said developing a good SWOT analysis helps create a brand vision, the second step in the branding process. 

 
"The brand vision expresses a brand's place in its world, the brand's reason for being," she said. "Before you can tell people what you want them to think about you, you must know clearly who you are."

Adams said that when creating a brand vision, a business must also figure out what the customer wants. "Do they want shuttle services, loaner vehicles, or credit cards?" she Asked.  "You need to make sure you are providing what the customers want. You have to know your customer in order to differentiate yourself."

Once shop owners figure out what their brand vision is, they must then figure out how to achieve it, Adams said. The brand vision may be that a business wants to be the best automotive repair shop in its market.  Now, based on the results from their SWOT analysis, they have to figure out how to reach that vision, she said.

The third step is brand promise, Adams said. The purpose of the brand promise is to guide the organization in its customer-centric efforts. The brand promise is similar to a mission statement and "keeps you on target to make sure that everything you are doing works with your brand," she said. "Take the vision of your business and figure out how you sell that to your clients. That is the brand promise."

The value proposition is the final step and represents the benefits that you are providing to the customers, Adams said. Those may range from quality service and a clean facility to loaner vehicles and service reminders. "How do you differentiate your shop from others?" Adams said. "How do your customers see you differently?"

Adams said many business owners feel like they are too busy to create a brand for their business. But, she said, "A great brand is a necessity, not a luxury. People find you through your brand."