I get this question all the time, and my answer is always very simple: it really does not matter how much you paid for your brand to be developed. Many of us have brands that we paid nothing for, as we came up with those brands ourselves! This is part of what makes small businesses and young companies so special. 

Just because you pay somebody $5 to design a logo does not mean that the logo is not valuable. The value of your branding is not measured by how much you paid to design it. The value of your brand is measured by how many people know about your goods and services under that brand. It can come from anywhere, and it can be anything.

No one knows what is behind it anyway! A $5 brand can easily be worth billions, so don't get hung up on how much you paid for the logo. Think only in terms of whether or not the logo is of value to your business. If it is, you have to protect it.

There’s an important distinction to make here. Paying somebody to design a logo for you does not automatically transfer the intellectual property or copyright over to you and your company. You absolutely must have it in writing that you own the copyright for that image, and that you alone are allowed to use the image in your business.

Unfortunately, some of them, (surprise, surprise!) use stock images. You never want to end up with a brand that's really nothing but a stock image. To avoid this, you have to be clear when you give them the job description. Tell them specifically that it has to be an image designed from scratch, just for you, and that they will not be able to license or sell it to your competitors.

Think of the design for the famous Nike swoosh. It's not the most intricate work of art, but the brand and the logo is worth millions, if not hundreds of millions. Not because of how much they paid to the designer, but by how much goodwill they have accumulated with that design. If you have a logo that is really landing with your audience, or there is something that people already associate you with, it might be time to get it trademarked! 

If you do, no one else can use your success to snowball their own. That’s just foul play. When you protect your brand, you ensure that all the hard work you have done to create it only lands in your bank account, and of course, you company’s as well. Your team works hard for the products you create, so you should get the full bang for your buck! 

In conclusion, let’s simplify: yes, you should certainly be very mindful of where you get your logo! Ask for test materials and get a feel for the artist. However, it doesn't matter how much you pay for the final product. It could be five dollars, five thousand dollars, or five million dollars. The value is simply measured by how much you pay.