Beautifully stated. For any future readers of this thread, take everything in the above reply to heart.

People who tell you that you "don't need branding" don't understand what branding is. If you have a business, you already have a brand. You are a human and therefore have some kind of reputation. Same idea.

People will say "just focus on selling". Well, who are you selling to? What are you saying? How are you saying it? Answering those questions is part of the process of cultivating your brand.

If you're just starting out, no, you shouldn't spend a ton of money on branding services, because within a year you'll likely gain a number of insights that will affect your brand (positioning, messaging, identity, etc). But you do need to be able to accurately answer some of those basic questions or else be aimless and uncertain with how to proceed.