How Do You Know When You're Ready for PR?
You know that moment. The one where you think, "This is it, we need PR."
Maybe you've just launched something brilliant. Maybe competitors are getting media attention and you're not. Maybe your website's looking sharp, your offers are dialled in, and the business finally feels ready... so why not add PR to the mix?
Here's the truth most people don't want to hear: wanting PR and being ready for PR are not the same thing.
And jumping in too early doesn't just waste money. It wastes opportunity.
Because when the media shows up, when the enquiries roll in, when your brand is suddenly visible in ways you've worked for months to achieve, your business needs to be able to handle what comes next.
If it can't? You've just spent money advertising a system that doesn't work yet.
So how do you know if you're actually ready?
The warning signs you're not ready yet
Over the years, we've worked with brilliant businesses that had to pause or pull back from PR campaigns, not because the strategy was wrong, but because the foundations weren't there yet. Here are the most common reasons why:
1. Your supply chain can't keep up
PR drives demand. That's the point.
But if you can't fulfil orders, meet deadlines, or scale production when interest spikes, PR becomes a problem, not a solution. Nothing damages reputation faster than promising something you can't deliver.
You're ready when: Your operations can flex to meet increased demand without compromising quality or timing.
2. Your website needs a rebuild
If your site doesn't reflect where your business is now (or worse, where you want it to be), sending traffic there is counterproductive.
Outdated messaging, clunky navigation, missing information, slow load times... these aren't minor issues when someone's deciding whether to work with you.
You're ready when: Your website clearly explains who you help, how you help them, and what they should do next. It doesn't have to be perfect, but it has to be functional and credible.
3. You don't have the team to handle enquiries
PR works. That means your phone rings, your inbox fills, and people expect responses.
If you don't have capacity to field those enquiries promptly, professionally, and with a clear next step, you're not ready to scale visibility.
You're ready when: You have systems (or people) in place to respond, qualify, and convert interest into conversations, appointments, or sales.
4. Your messaging isn't clear yet
If you struggle to explain what makes your business different, your audience will too.
PR amplifies your positioning. If that positioning is vague, inconsistent, or still evolving, the campaign won't land the way you want it to.
You're ready when: You can clearly articulate:
Who you serve
What problem you solve
Why you're the right choice
What makes you different
5. Your offer isn't validated
PR brings attention. But if what you're promoting hasn't been tested, refined, or proven with real customers, the attention won't convert.
Worse, you risk attracting the wrong audience entirely, or generating feedback that forces you to rethink the offer mid-campaign.
You're ready when: You've sold your offer (or delivered your service) enough times to know it works, clients value it, and you're confident scaling it.
6. Your internal systems are a mess
Can your team access the right assets quickly? Do you have approved messaging, updated bios, high-quality images, and case studies ready to go?
PR moves fast. Journalists don't wait. If sourcing a quote, statistic, or image takes three days of internal back-and-forth, opportunities slip away.
You're ready when: Your team has a centralised, accessible repository of brand assets, key messages, and approved content that can be pulled on demand.
7. You're not financially stable enough to invest properly
PR is an investment, not an expense. But it's one that requires patience.
If cash flow is tight, or if you need immediate ROI to justify the spend, PR might not be the right move yet. Media coverage builds momentum over time. It strengthens credibility, authority, and trust, which eventually converts into revenue, but rarely overnight.
You're ready when: You can commit to a sustained effort (3–6 months minimum) without needing instant returns to keep the lights on.
So... are you ready?
If you ticked most of those boxes? You're in a strong position.
If you didn't? That's not a failure. It's clarity.
And clarity is valuable, because it tells you what to focus on before you invest in visibility.
PR works best when it amplifies a system that's already functioning. When your operations, messaging, and capacity are aligned, media attention becomes rocket fuel.
When they're not? It's a mismatch waiting to happen.
What to do if you're not quite there yet
Here's the good news: you don't have to tackle everything at once.
Start with the area causing the biggest bottleneck:
If it's messaging, work on positioning first
If it's operations, shore up fulfilment or team capacity
If it's your website, prioritise clarity and function over perfection
Once those foundations are solid, PR becomes a strategic accelerator, not a risky experiment.
Need help figuring out where you're at?
If you're not sure whether your business is ready for PR (or what needs fixing first), that's exactly what our Breakthrough Brief is designed for.
It's a 90-minute strategic session that cuts through the noise, identifies what's working, what's not, and what needs to happen next, whether that's PR, positioning, messaging... or something else entirely.
No fluff. No generic advice. Just clear direction.