This content will be a makeup of the tips you have to contain within grasp in order to get the complete guide to naming your business properly, or better still, the ways or techniques to sourcing for business names. Just as names are important particulars of identification or identity, finding a very good name for your enterprise is one way of having an edge far above your competitions in both the business and financial industry.
Your business name sets the tone for what customers can expect from you. It also determines how easily existing and potential customers can recognize your brand. Ideally, your brand name conveys what products you offer and the general purpose of your brand. Think of the words you would use to describe the product, level of customer service and atmosphere. Discover More.
Your business name shapes your first impression on prospective customers, business individuals, and investors. It will headline your advertisements and form part of your domain name. As such, it should be search engine-friendly. Choosing a name too similar to a competitor’s or that is hard to pronounce will dent your discoverability online.
Kinds of Business Naming
- Descriptive names.
- Suggestive names.
- Arbitrary names
- Acronyms/initialisms
Standards to Naming a Potential Business
- Understand your business
You need a solid understanding of your business — its purpose, vision, mission and target audience. The business name must reflect that and should be the guiding principle for your brand identity. A good business name conveys your business’s benefits through evocative words or literal meaning.
- Use descriptive words
Adjectives are a great way to convey meaning. For example, if your business is known for producing high-quality, bespoke items, include descriptors like ‘custom’ or ‘best’ in your business name. Or if you’re known for speedy services, words like ‘instant’ or ‘rapid’ convey your unique value proposition.
- Be literal
Don’t make potential customers work too hard to determine what your business offers. They should recognize what you can provide simply by reading your name. This might mean including words that describe your product.
Use the word ‘furniture’ or ‘home goods’ in your business name if you sell furniture.
- Choose a name style
Choosing a name style keeps you consistent. Following common naming conventions in your industry may improve the stickiness of your business name.
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Obvious/literal names: A business name that clarifies what the company is about by using common words to explain it. Tells you exactly what the company does.
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Mainstream words: Using common everyday words and turning them into a brand. Instead of using made-up words, you’ll use everyday words that evoke what the brand does without directly referring to it.
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The owner’s name: Some companies use the founder or owner’s moniker as the business name— especially in finance, law and business consulting.
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Made-up/unrelated words: Some businesses use made-up names that may be harder to brand (it’s harder for people to make the association unless your brand is super well-known) but they may be more memorable in the long run.
- Avoid hard-to-spell names
Names that are hard to spell won’t stick in people’s minds and are harder to search for online. People also have to type it in to send you emails. Avoid the danger of future misspelling on business cards, merch and marketing collateral.
- Tell a story
Some names are evocative and can tell a story of your firm’s ethos and origins in just a few short words.
- Get feedback on the name
Seek as many second opinions as you can. As a business owner, you may be biased. Feedback is critical at all stages of business formation. Try to do market research and interviews with prospective customers to see what they think of the name.
- Don’t be too narrow
Some major brands have made the mistake of choosing a name that is too narrow, suggesting they only sell one product. In 2018, Dunkin’ Donuts dropped the ‘Donuts’ part of its name to emphasize its beverages and breakfast items. Avoid choosing a name that is too narrow and won’t grow with you as your business scales.
- Be careful about geographic names
Geographic names might make you seem too localized, which is undesirable if you serve customers across the country or even in different countries. Out-of-state customers might mistakenly assume you won’t serve them. However, if localization is your unique value proposition, don’t hesitate to emphasize it.
- Choose a scalable name
Finding a business name is about the future as well as the present. Choose something that will grow with your business, especially if you anticipate expanding your physical premises or catering to international markets in the future.
Complete Guide to Naming your Business Properly
Enduring the spectacle of the recent upsurge of the consistent in-flow of businesses across the world. can be economically ugly and of course discouraging. Many of these enterprises, undoubtedly, are brands of almost the same products and services that one could hardly distinguish which one from the other. Nonetheless, what can possibly make your business unique and reliably standing out is doodling out a name.
Below is the complete guide to naming your business properly and then sustaining the efficiency to surviving in the very competitive market of business:
Brainstorm Business Names
Use brainstorming techniques to develop a comprehensive list of potential business names. Familiarize yourself with the general naming ecosystem. Think about household-name brands you recognize the most. You can start the process on your own, but make sure to solicit the feedback of trusted advisors, friends and family members before going public.
- Do a word dump
Start by jotting down all the relevant words to your brand and industry. Don’t overanalyze. The point of a word dump is to come up with word vomit.
Set a timer (anywhere from 10-30 minutes) and try not to stop writing during that time — from descriptive words to root words in other languages to words that describe your product or service. Don’t hold back.
- Use a thesaurus
Review the list of words you generated from your word dump and use a thesaurus to find synonyms and antonyms.
Expanding your list gives you more options to choose from. Then you can cross out names that aren’t relevant. However, don’t limit yourself to adjectives. Some of the strongest-sounding company names are nouns.
- Use a name generator
Online business name generators suggest a list of potential business names based on just a few keywords. These name generators instantly check for domain availability; that way, you don’t choose a business name and then find that you cannot register a “.com” domain under your business name.
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BusinessNameGenerator.com: This website generates thousands of business name ideas based on just a few keywords. You can then narrow the results by selecting relevant industries and applying filters. The site lets you adjust the length, tone and overall catchiness of each name to find the perfect moniker.
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Namelix: This name generator helps you create a short branded name that is easy to remember. Most company name generators combine dictionary words to generate longer business names. If brevity and catchiness are what you’re looking for, this one’s a winner.
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Wordoid: If you’re looking for a unique name, you might want to check out Wordoid. The tool helps develop made-up, yet catchy and meaningful terms to use as a business name. It’s also linked to the GoDaddy domain hosting firm, to make it easy to buy a domain name if you wish.
Make a List of the Best Business Names
After doing a thorough word dump and generating as many potential names as possible, it’s time to shortlist your name choices. Ditch any monikers that sound too similar to that of an existing business. Best-case scenario: potential customers might get you mixed up with the other business. Worst-case scenario: You might get sued for trademark violation. Here are the names that can be chosen:
- Names that Represent Your Brand
Choose a business name that reflects your brand identity and makes your core audience feel like they’ve come to the right business for their needs. If you’re a laidback brand catering to a youthful audience, don’t go with a straitlaced name that makes you sound like a law firm. Pay attention to the general cadence of business names in your industry.
For example, financial firms and management consulting companies have similar naming conventions of using the founder’s name.
- Meaningful Names
Some brand names are derived from ancient mythology — the name “Nike” comes from the Ancient Greek “Winged Goddess of Victory” — others are conceived by pure luck. LEGO comes from a contraction of the Danish phrase leg godt, which means ‘play well.’ The right name for your business leaves no doubt in customers’ minds that you’re the brand for them.
- Memorable Names
An overly long name consisting of made-up words with no connection to your products or services will slip people’s minds. Remember, it costs more to brand a business with an unrelated name. Your marketing campaigns will not resonate if customers cannot associate your business name with what you sell. This will also put a damper on word-of-mouth marketing. Happy customers cannot refer you to their friends if they don’t remember your business name.
- Spellable Names
In the digital age, business names should be formulated with search engines in mind. When people search for your business online, can they find it easily? Hard-to-spell names are less indexable in search engine results, and it’s more likely that people will misspell the name and fail to find your business altogether.
- Appealing Names
Your business name will grace your logo, marketing collateral, social media accounts and other branded materials. The perfect business name must be visually appealing and sound pleasing when spoken aloud. Pay attention to the shapes of the letters. Is it easy to design your logo around it? Is it pleasing to the eye?
Follow Naming Rules for Business Structure
Don’t neglect practical considerations related to your business plan and type of business. Each state has its own restrictions on business names—make sure to check with your local business bureau.
Your business can only have one legal name at a time — the official name you use when you file with the state to form your LLC or C-Corps but you can have multiple assumed
- Limited Liability Corporations
Many small business owners structure their businesses as LLCs. This helps protect personal assets if a company faces legal action.
While restrictions differ between states, there’s a common thread. Company names must include the phrase ‘limited liability company’ or the acronyms ‘LLC’ or ‘L.L.C.’
You cannot use words that imply the company is a government entity (eg: federal, Treasury, United States) or words like “bank,” “trust,” or “insurance” unless legally authorized to operate as such by the appropriate government agency.
- C-Corporations
C-Corps are the most common type of corporation. They are suitable for businesses with shareholders, directors, and officers working in association because they protect shareholders from being liable for the debts of the corporations (shareholder liability is limited to what shareholders themselves have invested).
A corporation’s name typically must include words like ‘Corporation,’ ‘Incorporated,’ ‘Company,’ or ‘Limited’ or abbreviations like ‘Corp.,’ ‘Inc.,’ ‘Co.,’ or ‘Ltd.’
- Informal business structures
Businesses run by one or two people tend to identify as sole proprietorships or partnerships. There are fewer rules for these types of businesses, but you should still tread carefully.
- Sole proprietorship
Sole proprietors can operate under the founder’s surname or a fictitious name. If you use a fictitious name (by filing for a DBA), you must register your business with your local secretary of state.
A DBA lets you trade under an official brand name that isn’t your surname. Registering your business name can make it easier to open a business bank account and get an employer identification number (EIN).
- General partnership
General partnerships have two or more owners. Registered partnership names must include the surnames of the founders. If you want to operate under a different name, file for a DBA.
Check for Business Name Availability
Before growing too attached to a prospective business name, ensure another business hasn’t claimed it.
- Domain availability
Ideally, your domain name matches your company name. If the ‘.com’ domain name is taken, you might opt for a .org or .net domain, although studies show that people tend to trust .com domains more.
When looking up your business for the first time, they are also most likely to assume that your business is under a .com domain name, and if they can’t find you that way, they may give up searching altogether.
- Search federal trademark records
Search USPTO.gov to find out whether you can get a trademark or service mark for the name. Type in your business name idea and the search engine will tell you if that name is taken or is semantically similar to the name of an existing business.
- Conduct a Secretary of State search
Search your local Secretary of State to determine if your business name is distinguishable in the Secretary of State’s records from the name of an existing entity.
You can ask the Secretary of State to provide a preliminary determination on name availability, but you may need to wait for a final determination before you use it. You can also run a business entity name search on the Secretary of State’s website.
- Register Your Business Name
To register a business name, you must first register your business to make it a distinct legal entity. Most businesses must file for a federal tax ID.
If you want to trademark your business, brand or product name, file with the United States Patent and Trademark Office once you’ve formed your business. If your business is an LLC, C-corp, partnership or nonprofit, you’ll need to register with the secretary of state’s office, a business bureau or a business agency.
