By Maverick Steffen | Daily Marketing Advice

Trendy today, gone tomorrow is a very typical and yet elusive fact of business that a business's initial customer volume conceals.

A trendy business such as a bar, music store or restaurant tends to start off with a real proverbial "bang" due to the obvious fact that a large percentage of the general population enjoys what is new, fresh, hip and most certainly, trendy. However, as the trend exits, so does its appendages.

All too often too many small business owners find that by the time the trend subsides, a re-branding effort requires the very same energy and income that began the business in the first place. Alas, people always tend to see an out-trended business as the soiled diaper in the daycare of society.

Instead of building a business around a trend, build it around a mainstay. The audience your business attracts should be as predictable as the revenue you naturally expect to stream.

Now, I'm sure you want to build a trendy business for the following reasons:

1. You enjoy the trend itself, and wish to immerse your business in it.
2. You expect huge returns by piggybacking on a strong tide of enthusiasm and popularity.
3. You believe it will be a great differentiator from the competition.
4. You merged or acquired a trendy business, and are tempted to perpetuate the madness.
5. You have a fetish for bell bottom jeans or thick leather jackets.

The problem in all of this is you are not thinking of the long term.

Always run your business as if it will be the only revenue stream for your family for the next thousand years. If there is even a chance the branding of your business will eventually turn-off the majority of your current market, than I'd suggest you not go the trendy route.

Instead, differentiate your business on being "new." For example, plumbers, contractors and electricians pride themselves on being in business since 1654, or something like that. Instead, promote that your company has cutting edge technological equipment managed by professional technicians trained on the latest industrial techniques and practices (ensure this is true, however). You see how you can make that reliable old plumber seem real inefficient and real outdated real fast.

There is nothing wrong with being new and being modern. The problem is building a business around a trend that will eventually die anyway. Trends are like viral videos on YouTube: Compelling today, annoying tomorrow.