Is there such thing as a good or bad name? What do you have to do to make sure it’s the right one? I think it’s so much more about the service you provide and brand you create, let me explain.
Here’s a quick task for you – Think of your three favourite business names. What are the top three memorable business names that come to your mind? Companies that you think have done well in name choosing. It takes a moment or two doesn’t it? The next time you speak to someone ask them their three favourite business names. I bet they won’t be the same as yours. Why is this? Because it’s objective; a matter of opinion. There isn’t a science to choosing a good business name, what’s way more important is providing a good service that will have your business name attached to it.
So there’s no such thing as a perfect name or a right way to choose your name, but here are some rules you might follow;
Make it memorable – you need your name to easily roll of peoples lips. If the name your thinking of is too complicated, hard to say or remember then it works against you in the long run.
Keep it short – most of the popular names have two syllables. Think of Facebook, Google, Twitter, Levis. It’s not crucial but definitely something to try.
Multi-functional – don’t limit your service by choosing a name that suggests you only offer one thing. Calling yourself “John’s Tyre Shop” means I’d only expect you to work on my cars tyres, “John’s Car Services” suggests you could do anything linked with my car. Even if you’re only going to run a particular service now – pick an appropriate name that considers future add-on services.
A new language – this is a hard one, but think about how important brands become languages. We “Hoover” instead of vacuum, “Google” it instead of search online, Jet Ski and Bubble Wrap are other examples of brand names that we use as generic terms
Once you have a few name ideas you need to check it’s available.
Use the name search function on companies house to ensure that you can actually use it and another company is not trading under that name.
The next thing that would benefit you is to check the names availability on social media platforms. You want your name to be available on the most popular platforms, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube. If the name is not already taken on these you’re in a good space. Use namechk to give you an idea of availability.
Lastly make sure you check domains. Can you get the “.com” or “.co.uk” or maybe a vanity type extension “.london” might be good for a fashion label for example. A reliable service for this is Go Daddy.
If you find your chosen name is already taken you can add things like mybusinessnametweets or mybusinessnameonline but the cleaner the name the better.
Spend some time thinking of your business name and once you’ve decided open up accounts on the most popular social media sites and make sure you have a url
- Register a domain
- Open Twitter, Instagram and Facebook Account for chosen business
You can find out what other steps I recommend when starting a business by joining my Ten Step to Start Up Email programme – a free 10 step guide delivered to your inbox.
Good luck.
Blog Image Anna Maria Lopez Lopez (FreeImages.com)
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