Branding the Future

"You know, speaking of your potions," Sam said thoughtfully, "You should probably think about doing some major pushes if you actually want to sell your potions in a wider market."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Selling your stuff locally is good and all, but if you want to really make a living off of it, you'll need to make way more than a few jars worth a month, and to have more potential buyers. Plus, you need a brand name and logo. Something that pops and stands out, ya know?"

"Yeah, I do," I said. "I just don't really know where to start with it."

"Well, why don't you ask my mom for help?" Sam suggested. "She used to work in marketing before she had me and sis."

"That's not a bad idea," I mused.

"Right?" Sam chuckled. "And, um, I have another question."

"Shoot."

"Can you help me with my math homework?" Sam requested, and I chuckled.

"Sure thing," I said with a grin.

We did our homework together, finishing it up quickly, and then he'd left, feeling upbeat. I, however, was left with my thoughts.

Sam had been gone for a few hours now, and I'd been distracted long before then. I sat at the table and stared down at a blank piece of paper, Sam's words repeating over and over in my head.

He was right, of course. I needed a brand. An image. A logo. Just selling to housewives and relying on word of mouth wouldn't do, I'd have to aggressively advertise my medical creams.

Loathe as I was to spend money on anything other than potion ingredients, I'd need to do so to make my marketing campaign work. Flyers, posters, the works. And of course, I'd have to start selling my products further afield, rather than hanging around my current neighborhood. Did Britain have farmer's markets? I'd need to look into that.

'I'll also need to find a way to up the production limits,' I thought to myself. 'Hire another squib? No, unless they're younger than me, they won't take a teen seriously. Could I perhaps pay Sam? I have found a few ways to imbue magic into the potion making process with runes and special stirring rods, so even someone without magic can brew some of the more complicated potions.'

I shook my head. 'Something to think about for later. But I will need personnel. Someone to handle the money I'll be making, and security, eventually. PR, sales… so many different things!'

'I'll have to speak with Tarsworth about who to talk to for a business license,' I continued to ponder. 'But first things first. A name and a logo. But what?'

After thinking it over for a bit, I finally came up with the idea for both the logo and my future company name.

With a few strokes of the pen, I had it; the Omega symbol, with two small 'legs' at the bottom of the 'U' shape. Then, above it, I wrote down the name to go with the logo.

CAULDRON.

It was a blatant case of 'borrowing' heavily from the web novel series Worm, but who was going to sue me over it here? Besides, it was fitting. The name and logo had been used by a secret society of superpowered jerks to guide the development of human history. And here I was, taking knowledge from another, much larger, secret society to sell to unaware people.

Plus, ya know, I was making 'herbal remedies' for healing purposes, and people associated witches and cauldrons with potions, but obviously such things weren't real. Duh.

I chuckled to myself. Hiding in plain sight. It was fiendishly clever. Even if a wizard did spot my company name and looked into it, they'd just find me, a regular old squib. I couldn't do magic, so therefore I couldn't be selling anything magical to the muggles, and was probably only using the name as a marketing ploy and means of trying to keep ties to the magical family side of things. Nothing suspicious here!

"Inky," I called out, and the House Elf popped in next to me.

"Yes, young master Eddy?"

"It's time to whip up some more potions. Set the cauldron on the stove, we've got brewing to do!" I declared, jabbing a finger towards the sky.

....

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