Aside from the legal aspects in choosing a name for your business, there are other factors which need to be considered in coming up with the right name. A name is very powerful – it can either give your business a good start or it can give your business a funny story which should not be emulated by others.
The business name you choose will be the front of your business and the very first thing your potential customers would hear and know about. Based on the name of your business, people will evaluate whether to try your product and service out or not. With my experience as a writer and in working with various clients with marketing and related services, words are indeed important and can either create an impact or can just be ignored.
Therefore, in naming your business, you should be able to use the right terms and use the right words that would call your potential customers’ attention and invite them to check out what you are selling or offering.
Here are 5 important points to consider in naming your business.
1) Domain name
With today’s modern technology, almost all businesses are using the Internet to market their products and services. In order to compete with other businesses, especially those in the same industry, you must also utilize the World Wide Web as your market space. In doing so, you need a website to serve as your virtual address and to build up your business identity online. Therefore, you need to consider the domain name you are going to use.
The name of your business, as much as possible, should have a corresponding available domain name. This increases the possibility of being included in search engine results when people look for and key in the kind of products and services your business is selling.
2) Avoid initials
Unless you are capitalizing on your personal qualifications or your business partner’s professional degree, then avoid using initials for you’re a business name. Initials will only work only if, for example, you are an Engineer by profession and you are offering Engineering consulting services. Therefore, you can use your own name’s initials as your business name, adding credibility to your business and incorporating your personality. Otherwise, avoid the initials trend.
IBM may have thrived in this area, but do know that it is a multi-billion dollar corporation and has already been in the industry for quite some time. As a fresh startup or entrepreneur, you cannot risk being boring – yes initials are boring. But you can always do so when you are already making your own millions or billions.
3) Interesting words
Play with words. Use interesting words which describe your business, your product or your service. Choose something which will describe the emotions you intend your customers to feel when they avail of your product and/or service. Or simply, choose words which either describes your personality, your business identity or the kind of business your company is in. There are various business name examples submitted to Squadhelp which are very interesting and also describe the business itself. Here are a few examples and you can see more here.
- Tiny Trends – for a baby boutique
- Orderista – for a food ordering application
- Learnplicity – for an online learning application for children
- Knot in Style – for a wedding dress business
4) Appropriate and easy to spell
There are businesses which are pretty hard to pronounce and spell. But as much as possible, choose something which is appropriate to your business and can easily be spelled and pronounced. If you have to spell out your business name or write it down in order to share with people or let them check out your business, then consider choosing another name – something easier and appropriate.
The name you choose will become your business identity. If it is difficult to even say and spell, then you are building yourself a vague identity which can be easily lost in translation.
5) Trademark
Make sure you can trademark the name. Before finalizing the business name you choose, make sure that you are able to apply legal actions which will enable you to use the name only for your business and not just for anyone else’s. Trademark protects your business identity to a specific category of products and/or services. Thus, if you are really aiming to be number one in the market, and you have dreams of being well-known for your product, then consider trademarking.
This is a guest submission by Dan Taylor, from Squadhelp.com