Naming a business is like naming a baby — the name you choose reflects your hopes and dreams, your taste and style. A great name gives a baby and a business a certain leg up in the world. This is why big-budget start-ups hire naming firms. Even without an expert branding background, you can choose a great name for your fledgling business by investing a bit of time and thought.
Be your own guinea pig.
List 20 of your favorite existing business names. Do you see any trends? Do your tastes fall toward neologisms such as Acura or Kodak? Portmanteaus such as Microsoft and FedEx? Evocative symbols like Apple or Hot Italian? Your preferences are likely to resonate with your clientele as well. Use yourself as a bellwether.
Brainstorm.
It’s time to get out your pencil! If you have weeks to decide, keep a growing list handy. If you’re short on time, try to make yourself create ten names. Do this even if you have your heart set on one idea; it takes just a bit of time and you’re likely to find an even better name. If you haven’t tried it before, see if you can invent a new word or two to add to the list.
Now look at your list. Which names match your business, your style? Which names appeal the most? And which names are likely to create unflattering double-entendres or awkward acronyms? Consider Gap’s doomed brand, Forth and Towne, or the discarded salon name Blow.
When you’ve narrowed the list to three or less, search them on the Internet to make sure that you will neither infringe on a trademark nor accidentally name your business after a porn star.
Some fun tools to help:
- Online dictionaries and thesaurus;
- RhymeZone for cool rhyme ideas;
- Trademarkia: the largest visual search engine for more than 6 million trademarked logos, names, and slogans on the Internet.
Be Practical.
Remember that the end user of your name is your clientele. Choose a name that helps them make the right associations with your business. Names that evoke the value of your services are preferable to names that are generic, non-sequitur, or simply cute.
Examples:
- Consider the case of MicroMidas, a start-up firm that turns waste microorganisms into useful industrial polymers. How might we perceive this business differently if it was named Northern California Polymers, or worse, Poo Plastics?
- Choosing the smart domain is crucial: see how “coupons” in Couponsherpa instantly ring the bell.
- Even more general business (with no specific niche) creating the sticky association is a must – consider: Target, Justice, etc.
Don’t forgte that your future business name is your brand name AND domain name.
Thinking again about the needs of your client, be careful with unusual spellings and foreign language letter constructs. Your clientele might not know the correct pronunciation of the Vietnamese ng-, the Mandarin qi, and the French –ix. As a result, they’ll avoid saying your business name, even to recommend the excellent services they received from Jerry Nguyen’s Chamonix Chalet.
Make the Call.
If you’re having trouble choosing between your top two or three, survey friends, coworkers and clients. Choose bravely and wisely and be confident in your decision. Your business has a great new name! Time to celebrate.
Above all, don’t let the name be your business’ bottleneck. The great secret of naming is that there is no perfect name — just a lot of great ones. Within the bounds of reasonable taste, no name will make or break your business. The substance behind the name ultimately trumps any label.
Sonia Mansfield is the content editor for PsPrint and editor of PsPrint Blog. PsPrint is an online printing solutions company, which you can follow on Twitter and Facebook.
Don’t forget the availability of the domain name.
What also is missing from the post is the need to choose .com domains (which is a challenge today). If you choose another TLD, you’ll lose a lot of direct-type-in traffic.