Do you need help choosing a name for your business? Plenty of thought should go into this process. For instance, you should ask yourself a few simple questions:
- Should I consider a name that relates to the type of customer I want to attract?
- Should my business name be descriptive of what services/products that I provide?
- Should I make up an original name comprising of parts of names/services I provide etc – something completely original and catchy?
In reality any business name can work – it really revolves around the way you market the services you provide. In developing a company name I think these few simple steps will help you in considering what name fits well for you. Any offline or online business needs to be easy to find when starting out.
Make your business name memorable
Find something that is easy to remember; just a couple of words long, and make it easy to spell and so forth – easy to search for. Misspelling can make it hard to find your business. You want it to be easy for clients or potential clients to find you in directories, on the web and through social media. Take Compaq (the computer company); it has a renowned name, but if you had never seen this product before and some one had recommended it to you, how would you go home and find the company details? I personally would search for the word “compact”, and this in itself is a potential customer lost. Unique can be cool, but also confusing at the same time.
Incorporate what your business provides in its name
Your business name should in some way incorporate what services you provide. As your business is just starting off, people whom see your business name should be left with a descriptive definition of what you do. This will also help with clients searching for your niche. For example: Joe Blow owns a plumbing company. If Joe just advertised as Joe Blow nobody would have the faintest idea what he does, however, if he called it Joe Blows Plumbing – straight away people understand what service he provides and may remember him next time there plumbing needs attention. Use domain sites like GoDaddy.com and Namecheap.com to check that your URL is not taken.
Research competitors names and logos
Once you have a niche it’s easy to research your target competitors. Gather together say 5 to 10 competitors names and logos. Place them out in front of yourself and compare them, make a list of likes and dislikes which you think would be good for your name/logo. Develop something for yourself without being too much like anyone else’s – don’t copy someone else’s idea, as it could lead to customers remembering the wrong company off sight and mistakenly hire your competitor because of the resemblance. Plus, not to mention any legal complications…
Logos and colour placement to draw attention for visual advertising
Eye catching logos can do wonders for business. You should carefully select colours and logos. Different colours stimulate different feelings of emotion and you should select something that captures your business name. The visual component to your name/logo should be something you can see travelling through the years; not too flashy; something professional – keep it simple,professional and classy.
Support
Picking a business name should be an exercise that is not rushed. I recommend to find four names you are happy with and then announce them to friends and family. People have differing views and feed back is an invaluable source of research so utilize this tool and form an opinion for yourself…For us, the support I got within the Wealthy Affiliate community has been second to none. I got honest opinions on a few business names and ideas; on what would work best for our online business etc. If you want to get more information on Wealthy Affiliate, please check out our review here.
As always, I’d love to hear your feedback.
Cheers
Nathan
