Naming your business is such an important decision and not to be taken lightly. A company name can make or break your business. It makes all the difference when it comes to thrusting your business to success, instead of just getting by. E.g. which name would you choose? Cupcake Couture? Or Mary’s Cupcakes? Cupcake Couture, right? I thought so.
Names have a powerful effect on your business. Once you get the name right, you can automatically brand yourself.
When you are deciding a name for your business, consider these top tips:
-
Keep it simple
make sure your name is easy to read, say and understand. will your customers be able to pronounce your business’ name easily? Will it spread like wildfire, or is the difficult name off-putting?
-
The name needs to sound amazing when said out loud!
Alliteration can be a great place to start when deciding a name for your business. Make sure when you say it aloud, it sounds like it was meant to be. People will need to say the name, and it needs to be one that rolls off the tongue!
-
Use a beneficial and meaningful association
When you hear the name, you should be able to associate the name with the business you run. Like Cupcake couture, is a meaningful name which is very specific. Generic names tend to be too broad and people cannot understand what product or service your business is providing.
-
Avoid complicated spellings
I know you want to be unique, but don’t use complicated or dyslexic spellings for your business’ name. Customers will struggle to find you in search engines. You need a name that is easy to spell and remember. They shouldn’t be asking themselves how your name is spelled. E.g. is toysrus spelled ‘toys are us’? Or ‘toys”r”us’?
-
Be wary of initials
About 10 years ago you may have gotten away with using them, but now initials are boring. New companies cannot pull it off. You need to pick a name that is interesting and grabs the customer’s attention.
-
No generics
Make sure your name is very specific to the services you provide. Specifics can include numbers. For instance, ‘12 steps to a better you’ or ’20 ways to market your business.’
-
Don’t forget to trademark the name
Doesn’t matter how big your brand is, you need to trademark the name. This is such an important point which is usually overlooked. You can use the following sites to check for name availability before you finalize on a business name.
- USPTO.gov
- trademarkia.com
-
Test out the name
Use friends and family to test out the business name samples. What kind of reaction did you get? Will it be easy to understand when different dialects are used?
Now that you have the perfect tips for naming your business, what are you waiting for? Pick a name and reserve it before it’s gone! Share your questions or comments with us on what names you think would trend these days. We would love to hear from you.
- How to build an effective brand image for your business - September 9, 2016
- The 5 Stages of Change - October 19, 2015
- 11 Things to Do After Writing a Blog Post - October 7, 2015
- How To Create An Effective Homepage - October 5, 2015
- How Brands Become a Success - October 4, 2015
