There is a version of every industry where every competitor uses the same font, the same layout, and roughly the same colour palette. That version is most industries. The template economy has made visual mediocrity the default.
It's not hard to understand why. Templates are fast. They're cheap. They're professionally made. They look decent. The problem isn't that they look bad - it's that they look exactly like everyone else who bought the same template.
The problem with "good enough"
Brand recognition requires differentiation. Your visual identity works when people can pick it out of a crowd - when they see your colour and know it's you, when your typography carries a feeling that belongs to you alone. None of that is possible when you're working from a shared template.
The irony is that "good enough" design is often more expensive in the long run. You rebrand sooner. You look less credible in competitive situations. You lose deals to competitors who look more established, even when your product is better.
Brand recognition requires differentiation. Your visual identity works when people can pick it out of a crowd.
What to do instead
The answer isn't to spend more money on design. It's to invest that money differently. A custom identity - even a simple one - built around a clear strategic position will outperform a template-based brand at every touchpoint, because it was built for you, not for a hypothetical average business.
Start with strategy. Define who you are, who you're for, and what makes you different. Then let that definition drive every visual decision. The logo, the colours, the type - they should all be answers to the question: what does this brand stand for?
When identity is an expression of strategy, it can't look like anyone else's. Because no one else has your strategy.
If your brand currently lives in a template - that's not a failure. It's a starting point. The question is whether you want to stay there.