You will hear it many times as you begin to work on your start up business "You need to build a brand" and/or "you need a logo" Less often though will someone take the time to explain why you should be investing money into creating such things when money is already tight anyway.
Here are a few good reasons why you should be setting aside a portion of your available funds to get some professionally created printed business materials and a great logo.
To prove you are serious - Whether you are dealing with potential clients and customers or possible investors you need to show that you are serious about your start up business and that you intend to be around for a long time to come.
Handing out homemade business cards and brochures is not a very good way to start.
Those kinds of things were OK when you were a 14 year old offering to mow lawns or babysit kids but they just don't fly in the grown up business world.
To stand out and be memorable - Forty percent of people are more likely to remember what they see rather than what they read or hear.
Having a logo that is consistent across all your business efforts (your business cards, your stationary, your Twitter account) helps people build a visual reference to your company that they are far more likely to remember than a page full of wordy copy.
To Look Bigger then you are - You may just be a one or two person concern right now but a good brand image can help you "fake" that you are so much more than that.
No one is suggesting that you defraud your customers and contacts by making up employees or telling wild tales, just that a great brand image, together with a well-designed and executed web site and marketing materials can help you keep up with the bigger fish in your niche.