The Ultimate Guide To Choosing A Business Name
The name of your business will have a significant impact on how you connect with clients. That’s why it’s worth giving yourself time to find the right one for you.
Here’s 6 things to consider when choosing a name for your business:
1. Your brand strategy
Choosing a brand name can feel like a daunting task. If you’re struggling, we suggest developing your brand strategy first. It will help define what your name needs to represent. This will hopefully make the process a little easier. Your brand strategy defines things like:
Your goals
Target audience
Purpose
Core values
Messaging
Brand personality
Discovering what your brand needs to reflect will help you make the right branding choices. Your brand needs to speak to your target market. That’s why having a definite plan will help decide whether your chosen name is suitable for your business.
2. Choose a brand name you can grow with
The suitability of the name will determine whether it will grow with your business. If you’re looking to grow your business, your name shouldn’t limit your brand's potential. Your name needs to be part of that growth.
Once you choose a name it's important to stick with it. You want to build a reputation with a name that will become memorable for what you do. Consider why you might be forced to change your name over time. Whether it’s because the name is after a particular location that’s no longer relevant or linked to a service that you no longer offer. Rebranding and a change in direction may be something you’d like to consider later on.
3. Research and experiment
Here’s some different avenues you can go down:
Your own name — e.g. Disney, Louis Vuitton, Ben & Jerry’s
Describe what you do — e.g. Toys R Us, PayPal, Dunkin’ Donuts
Make word combinations — e.g. Photoshop, MasterCard, Snapchat
Incorporate a metaphor — e.g. Nike, Amazon, Safari
Use an acronym or initials — e.g. NASA, BMW, MTV, HSBC
Invent a new word — e.g. Xerox, Google, Twitter
4. Brainstorm (a lot) ideas
It’s important to come up with lots of concepts. Continue to follow new leads and directions until you have an expansive list.
You might have a favourite name or a couple that stand out to you. You might also not have that ‘this is the one’ moment. Be patient and give yourself time. It might be a name you grow to love that is the one right for your brand. Give yourself the opportunity to understand what you want the name to represent before committing too quickly.
5. Check the availability of your chosen name
This is vital when it comes to choosing a name. Before becoming too attached you need to do some checks to see if it would work for you as a business. Do a google search and check if there are any other businesses doing a similar service to you with the same name. You’ll want an online presence so check if you can get the domain name or social media handle.
Make this part of the process. We recommend doing this early on to avoid disappointment.
6. Check the usability of the name
You want to choose a solid name that represents your business. This means you don’t want something that could negatively impact how people think about what you do. Here’s what you should consider:
How likely will people misspell the name?
How does the name sound and is it easy to pronounce?
Does the name reflect what you do or is it misleading?
How does the name look? Remember the name will be part of a logo.
Are there any negative meanings that could be associated with it? Research into other meanings such as other languages.
Final Note
We hope to have given you some things to think about in your brainstorming sessions. Remember the naming process isn’t easy, so don’t put pressure on finding a name quickly. Give yourself time to experiment until you find one that’s a good fit.
P.S. Is the experience of working with you your USP? Why not make it personal and go with your own name.