It’s All in the Name – Naming Your Business
Naming a business is an important part of the start up process. One should consider whether it can be branded and also the connotations a name evokes. The wrong name may hurt a business more than one might think. Business owners should think about their future plans for their business before choosing a name and keep in mind the associations, or lack there of, with the chosen name.
Some strategies for selecting the perfect name include gathering a group of individuals to help brainstorm. They should be will versed in the business’s mission. Start with word associations, to get the creative flow going. Early on there shouldn’t be too much pressure to come up with the perfect name, but instead the focus should be creating. Just start generating words that have to do with the business’s mission and product and encourage everyone involved to throw out ideas as they come up with them—after all, one never knows when genius will strike.
It maybe hard to know where to start to get inspired. What makes a good name? Nathalie Lussier of the Young Entrepreneur Counsel suggests 3 tactics for coming up with a great business name. She says that the name can be made up. With no intrinsic meaning, there are no ill associations that can come from the name but advertising must take the place of culture to create a meaning and that can get expensive. Names can also be incredibly descriptive. In such cases, people and search engines know what the business has to offer; but it is hard to change directions once such a name is chosen. Using your own name to build up your brand and legacy is a good strategy; but like using a made-up word for a name, the meaning of the name most likely will have to be built up from scratch.
The drawbacks of selecting a wrong name are many and some may make easy to avoid mistakes when naming their business. Phil Davis, owner of the company branding and naming business, Tungsten, outlines the 5 mistakes one can make when selecting a name for their business. First, he says don’t choose a generic name. With commonly used names, a business is not only competing with other businesses in that felid, but also other businesses with the same name. Secondly, don’t limit the business to a location such as Tampa Plumbing. It alienates potential clients in nearby areas (and in a wider radius) that still might be in the service area. Using a map to name a business puts limitations on how easy it will be to expand. Davis also says business names should avoid trends. It puts limitations on the businesses ability to stay relevant and will loose its cleverness over time. Going along with the advice to avoid tends, Davis cautions against purposefully misspelling names. It is trendy now, but will that name still seem cunning in 10 years or will it seem immature? Lastly, one of the biggest mistakes any business owner can make is realizing that the name they choose is a poor fit and not changing it. If a name does not conjure up the message you want to send, then fix it. After all, it’s all in the name.
A business name is often the first thing potential clients encounter. It is what many will build their associations of that business and therefore it is important that the business name represents the business in the best possible way to help make it successful.