Business start-ups should focus on creating a strong brand as soon as possible.

People who set up a recruitment agency or start any other kind of company should focus on creating a strong brand as soon as possible in order to cement a solid business foundation.

That is the advice from Mark Batchelor of Markman OTW, a company that specialises in business branding, who said that the sooner a clear brand strategy is created the better.

Speaking at Marketing Excellence for Small Businesses, an event organised by the Chartered Institute of Marketing, the expert stated that understanding one's brand is vital for success.

"As companies grow and become more diverse they often find they have issues of conflict between different parts of the business," he explained.

"The problems often occur because they do not have a clear idea of what their brand is, what they stand for and how that architecture fits as their company grows."

Recruiters were recently advised by an industry insider to focus on niche markets to increase their chances of success.