HOW CAN COLOURS INFLUENCE THE SUCCESS OF YOUR BUSINESS

You’ve started your own business and, after realising that the way of doing business is changing, you’ve implemented conscious business practices. Your focus is on building relationships with your employees and customers so everything your business does serves them as much as possible. It’s not all about the bottom line! But what else can you do to ensure the long-term health of your business? This is where colours come in!

Colour therapy was first usedby the Ancient Egyptians. They painted rooms different colours to treat specific illnesses. In recent years it has made a come-back as more people understand that we’re naturally influenced by colour. So how can the fundamentals of colour therapy be used in the workplace?

Start with the environment. A lot of corporate offices are painted with neutral colours – off white or cream. It’s the smaller, quirkier companies (like design companies) that are more likely to have bolder colours in the workplace. They understand that colour can fuel their creativeness.

Each colour can evoke a different reaction from us. On the whole colours on the blue spectrum (blue, indigo, violet) have a calming affect so are good for your chill out areas. Colours on the red spectrum (red, orange, yellow) energise so are great for the areas housing the innovative teams.

It’s not just the walls which can bring colour to an office. You could experiment with the colour of office furniture or paintings on the walls. It’s also standard for companies to have plants in the office. The green of an indoor plant is recognised as a balancing colour, whilst the vibrancy of the plant is great for reducing stress.

What if you took the use of colour one step further and consciously applied colours to your company branding? Colours can have an impact on your customers just as much as your employees. Don’t choose colours purely on how they look, but on what they will tell others about your company.

For instance, your logo will appear on your website, on emails, on documentation… so don’t you want to use a colour or two that will inspire your customer? If your company relies heavily on communication, such as a consultancy, perhaps you’ll choose a shade of blue, which is great to encourage open communication. Maybe your company is a training company intent on empowering your delegates, so you’d choose green; as well as balancing, green also reassures and will fill your delegates with confidence.

It’s not just your logo that needs to be considered. Your website is often the first place a potential client will visit in order to find out more about you. Ensure your chosen company colours are incorporated into every page. This allows you to consistently emit the energy of your company on a subconscious level.

You can even take this as far as to consider the clothing you wear in the office. What you wear can influence your mood, which in turn can have an effect on those around you. A spark of yellow will encourage a happy, upbeat mood, whilst a warm colour like magenta can indicate care. Perhaps when speaking at a conference, you choose to incorporate some of your brand colours into your clothing to truly embody all that your company stands for.

As you can see there are a lot of ways to use colour in the workplace. Doing some research into colours and consciously choosing ones that fit your company can play an important part in improving working relationships and connecting with new clients. Colours can therefore lead to greater success for you and your company.