How Brand & Packaging Design Helps startups to Attract Investors

Last Updated on December 7, 2024 by DesignerPeople

Did you know India has over 61,400 startups recognized by the Department for Promotion Industry and Internal Trade(DPIIT) that raised $3.5 billion in 20225, which is six times since 2024? According to the Economic Survey 2024-2025, around 14,000 startups were just recognized by DPIIT during the fiscal year of 2025. 

Launching a new low-cost startup branding is challenging nowadays. To stand out in the crowded market, not only your product & services should be unique, but your presentation should also be very professional.

Your target customer judges your product & services from your branding & packaging, and so as your investors. Your small business branding and packaging determine the ultimate face of the brand, which you cannot afford to go wrong. So to attract investors, your branding and packaging should be very professional.

Some startups may overlook this aspect as a meagre requirement, but they will lose out on many sales and potential benefits without making this wise investment.

On that note, let’s discuss a series of reasons and pointers to elaborate on the importance of branding and packaging design to stand out among thousands of startups in India and rule the market. Let’s get started.

Why do Most Startups fail in India?

Did you know hundreds of startups emerge every day in India and fail to get the recognition they deserve, resulting in shutting down their business within the first few years of launching? Here are the most common reasons why most startups fail and how to avoid this in your startup.

1. Lack of Market Research

Many startups fail for the most straightforward reason – lack of market research.

-If your product is not required in the market, how will your business profit from it?

-If your products have better alternatives in the market, you can’t attract your target customers?

-If your startup is developing products that are not in demand, eventually, you will run under a loss. 

Market research is vital even before you launch your startup. You need to conduct market research right during the first stages of building your startup. When you conduct market research, you will know about products that already exist in the market and are similar to yours. You will also get an insightful understanding of the type of challenges your target audiences face, which your upcoming product will solve.

Conducting market research ensures that you are building a relevant and required startup in the market for your customers. It also helps create a more robust brand portfolio in your business that will attract customers in the long run.

Also Read: What Are Brand Guidelines? Why Should Every Indian Brand Have One?

2. Lack of Funds

In 2018, a bike rental startup, Tazzo, shut their business due to running out of funds after creating a business that was not a good market fit. In the initial years, the startup did raise a considerable amount of funds, but the business model was not profitable enough in the long run.

Your startup needs a constant flow of funding. If your startup cannot consistently seed enough financing, your business will eventually fail. It would be best to create startups with practical business and revenue models that are bound to generate both immediate and long term profit. Just like building a relevant product in a market is essential for your business to succeed, so is your consistent revenue and profit generation. Furthermore, you need to spend your funding strategically and make smart investments in your industry.

3. Lack of Customer Knowledge

Market research and customer research go hand in hand. The world is changing at a relatively faster rate. To keep up with the emerging trends and make your business relevant, you need to have consistently updated knowledge of your target customers. If customer research is not a part of your daily to-do list, you will have a big problem.

Make your startup customer-centric. Address customer queries, grievances and feedback to learn more about their everyday challenges, requirements, and interests. Only then can you build a product required by your customers and succeed in your startup.

4. Expansion without Establishment

Last but not least, often startups scale way too fast and expand without any solid foundation. Sure, you need to aim higher and scale your business rapidly. However, suppose you scale without any previous profits in the industry. In that case, you will not be able to endure the necessities and requirements of the updated business model, which can lead to shutting down your startup anytime. Thus, take calculated risks and have a solid establishment before you consider scaling your business any further.

How does your Brand Design and Product Design Safeguard your Startup by 40%?

Your brand design and product packaging design can literally save your startup from shutting off by 40%. Yes. You heard it right. Like we said, if you consider it to be a very minor or irrelevant investment compared to building a fruitful product in the market, you are indeed in the wrong direction. Here are a few ways an excellent customized brand design and product packaging design can help you reap more profits for your startup.

1. Attract online sales and Distributor Networks

One of the significant advantages of investing in your product packaging and labelling is sales growth. The better your packaging is, the more it attracts customers on the retail shelves. All of it comes down to the first impression. When your product packaging and brand image aligns with your brand’s values and is attractive to your customers, there is no way your startup will fail irrespective of the existing players in the industry.

Creating attractive and unique packaging for your products and the overall brand will transform the customer experience and position your brand to higher ranks in the industry. 

To ensure that you are doing it right, you can always work with packaging designing and branding companies to create the most captivating brand and packaging designs that will help with your customer acquisition and retention rates.

2. Attract Investors for your startup and Raise funding

Raising funds for a business is a tough nut to crack. Not every business idea has the potential to attract funds to grow from an investor. Every investor notices one of the top aspects is the brand value and image.

If your packaging and brand designs are shabby, your startup will not likely attract customers and take off. Why would an investor spend their money on such a startup that does not have the potential to attract adequate customers and generate profit?

This investment can ultimately make or break your deal with your investors to raise your business capital, and it could be the ultimate thing that may turn them down from giving you the funds in starting off your business and scale it. Thus, it would be best to focus adequately on improving the brand and packaging design to attract the best investors interested in your startup and invest in it.

3. Build Trust and a Stronger Brand Image

According to a recent study, 74% of the consumers mentioned how a product’s label conveys honesty and transparency has more chances of being their next purchase. 76% of the same consumers also said that they consider the brand and product packaging to ensure that they are choosing the best quality materials and ingredients for their families. 

Strong branding is important to build trust within consumers for choosing your brand over others. A standard packaging may not have the same punch as a custom packaging, which aligns with the brand values. By investing in packaging designs and branding, you can control your products’ look and feel, which are significant contributing factors to the final purchasing decisions. You can also create a better unboxing experience for your customers. Lastly, you can save millions on customer retention when you have a loyal customer base that trusts your business.

4. Cost-effective marketing strategy

Often, startups do not have adequate funding to use the latest marketing strategies and promote their newly launched business. This is when brand designs and product packaging designs can do wonders.

Custom product packaging designs and brand designs are efficient, budget-friendly marketing strategies that work in every industry. Depending on the designs and the other parameters, you invest a minimum sum on designing the packaging and the brand that becomes negligible when compared to the final profits. Good quality designs are way more economically friendly and make your brand stand out from the rest, which is why it is called one of the smartest business investments ever.

5. Show Sincerity to stay in the market

Customers want to shop with a business that shares similar values and cares about the relevant issues. As more and more customers gradually become aware of the environmental footprint and its impacts, they look out for brands that offer environmentally friendly packaging and are committed to the environment.

Investing in packaging and brand design is worth the investment as you can communicate your brand value by making them as economical as possible. This helps to build authority in the market and assures the customers that your brand is their best investment.

When the investors know that you are doing something good in the market and will be needed in the upcoming years, your startup can easily attract more investors.

Wrapping Up

Before you throw your entire budget only into advertising, take some time to think about how you can build a better brand and packaging design for your business. Your brand and packaging designs influence how your customers perceive your brand and their final purchasing decisions. However, it also plays a significant role in attracting investors to your startup. Ensure to demonstrate the same whenever you approach the investors with a deal of investing in your business, and you can easily witness the positive impact it makes on them.

If you are unsure of how to build and improve your brand and packaging designs before you visit the shark tanks. Connect to DesignerPeople for professional packaging design and branding.

With the best branding professionals in our team, we have worked with many renowned brands and have helped them achieve their funding targets and rule the market in no time. Visit our official website today and sign up for a free consultation for your brand and packaging design requirements.

Author: Anush Malik

Being a strategist’s head and a long term visionary personality aims to achieve excellence in branding, packaging and digital marketing field. My 15 years of design experience and masters degree ais my strength which keeps me motivated and keep me going positively. I have participated in extensive branding design conquests in India, USA, Australia and New Zealand with winning zeal. My objective is to encourage start-ups and hence involves actively in the articles which will act as a productive intake of knowledge for them. Do connect me personally via my LinkedIn and I love to share my expertise with you.