How to name your business: 5 tips

What’s in a (enterprise) name? Well, every part.

Your enterprise name will probably be what prospects affiliate your enterprise with. Having the precise enterprise name will go a good distance in influencing the success of your enterprise.

After all, the precise name can do wonders for your enterprise’ development and model loyalty. On the opposite hand, the incorrect one can get your enterprise remembered for the incorrect causes (if folks even keep in mind your enterprise in any respect).

To get your enterprise off on the precise foot, take a look at these 5 tips on how to name your enterprise:

1. Pick a descriptive enterprise name

As far as potential, select a descriptive enterprise name. In different phrases, it ought to instantly inform others what your enterprise is about.

This helps potential prospects get a fast understanding of your enterprise, even when they’ve by no means visited your web site or retailer earlier than.

If you’ll be opening a bakery, for instance, then you would embody bakery-related phrases in your enterprise name, corresponding to:

• “Baker”, e.g. “Bob the Baker”
• “Bakery”, e.g. “Sunrise Bakery”
• “Cakes”, e.g. “Cakes and Bakes”
• “Oven”, e.g. “Oven Fresh”

Of course, following this rule isn’t a should. For instance, you don’t see Uber calling itself “Uber Private-Hire” or Amazon calling itself “Amazon Shopping Platform”.

Just remember that if your enterprise name doesn’t make your enterprise actions apparent, chances are you’ll then initially want to spend extra time educating others on what you do.

But hopefully, as your enterprise grows, it’ll grow to be so well-known you can skip these explanations too!

2. Don’t restrict your enterprise’ potential development

While you need your enterprise name to give an concept of what you do, you don’t need to decide a enterprise name that’s too restrictive both.

That’s as a result of your enterprise name ought to give you the chance to cater to foreseeable enterprise expansions into associated actions.

Let’s say you begin a restaurant that sells burgers and name it “Ryan’s Burgers”. Business does so properly that three years later, you resolve to additionally promote different forms of meals.

As a outcome, you could be in a little bit of a pickle. Because your enterprise name is “Ryan’s Burgers”—wouldn’t it confuse prospects if you happen to began promoting non-burger gadgets as properly?

Of course, the possibilities of confusion would differ in every scenario.

You could give you the chance to follow “Ryan’s Burgers” if you happen to select to promote different forms of Western meals. But if you happen to’ve determined to supply non-Western meals, then you definitely may need to change “Ryan’s Burgers” to one thing that additionally covers your new choices, corresponding to “Ryan’s Restaurant”.

3. Keep your enterprise name easy

If your enterprise name is simply too lengthy, tough to spell or keep in mind, then folks may need a troublesome time telling others about your enterprise. This might then hamper your enterprise’ capability to get new prospects by phrase of mouth.

As far as potential, attempt to hold your enterprise name to simply a few phrases. Like what these companies have carried out:

• Nike
• IKEA
• Love, Bonito
• Shake Shack
• Famous Amos

Short, punchy, straight to the purpose. Love them.

There’s additionally been a development of companies naming themselves by eradicating letters (particularly vowels) from phrases, corresponding to image-hosting web site Flickr or co-living enterprise Hmlet.

Such enterprise names may nonetheless be comparatively simple to pronounce. For instance, “Hmlet” would nonetheless be pronounced as “hamlet”).

However, telling others how to spell them—in order that they’ll lookup the enterprise’ web site, for instance—could be trickier. (“It’s like the word ‘hamlet’ but without the ‘a’”)

This doesn’t imply that you’ve got to keep away from such naming conventions. But if you happen to do resolve to use them, try to be conscious of the potential downsides and be ready to cope with them.

4. Avoid names which are too related to a competitor’s name

When occupied with how to name your enterprise, it could be tempting to select a name that’s related to that of a competitor.

After all, if the competitor has been round for a while, then utilizing one thing to their “tried-and-tested” name ought to assist your enterprise succeed too, proper?

Wrong.

Word spreads quick as of late thanks to social media, so your competitor will uncover your enterprise sooner or later. And in the event that they realise that you just’ve copied their name, chances are high that they won’t be completely satisfied.

The outcome? They may take authorized motion to stop you from free-riding off their enterprise goodwill. Lawsuits are costly and time-consuming to deal with, and having to cope with one can drain treasured enterprise sources.

Customers (together with yours) may additionally not have an excellent view of your enterprise after studying what has occurred, and cease patronising your enterprise.

All that is extra hassle than what it’s price, and it’s simply avoidable by selecting a name that’s uniquely your personal—as an alternative of a name that (deliberately or in any other case) passes your enterprise off as a competitor’s.

5. Check whether or not the enterprise name is obtainable

There’s one closing factor you want to do earlier than you formally decide on a name for your enterprise—and that’s to test whether or not it has been taken.

And within the Internet age, this implies not solely checking if the name has already been legally registered, but additionally if these are nonetheless obtainable:

• Website area (particularly the “.com” area)
• Social media handles (Facebook, Instagram and so forth)
• Trademarks

If some or all of those are unavailable, you might have to return to the drafting board and decide a distinct enterprise name.

It could be disappointing to come throughout the proper enterprise name, solely to realise {that a} competitor had already taken it a very long time in the past.

But it’s good that you just discover this out in the beginning earlier than you begin incurring prices to market your enterprise underneath an unavailable name.

Because in that situation, chances are you’ll simply have to write off all such prices, which could be an much more heartbreaking expertise (each emotionally and financially).

Put these tips on how to name your enterprise into motion

To sum up, your enterprise name needs to be memorable and catchy, whereas precisely stating what the enterprise is about, and in addition be quick and candy. Picking a enterprise name that checks off all these bins could be fairly a problem.

Making the duty even more durable, your most popular enterprise names could have already been taken—sending you all the best way again to sq. one. 

With this in thoughts, don’t rush by way of the method of how to name your enterprise. Give your self time to brainstorm, and check out to get inspiration from a wide range of locations.

And when you’ve give you some potential enterprise names, test on their availability. For instance, you’ll be able to run them by way of the (*5*) to see if you happen to can register them because the name of your web site.

All one of the best to find the precise name for your enterprise!