When you think about a name, especially a business name, do you wonder about it like I do? What does this name mean? When it comes to a business, small or otherwise, what is in a name? There is a lot. There is a fine line between choosing the right or wrong name can make or break the amount of success it has. The idea, in picking the right name, is to convey the expertise, value and, capabilities of the product and or service you have created for others.
Creating The Name
There are some experts who say and believe that the best names for a business are abstract or a blank slate on which an image can be created from the very start. Others believe something a little different; these people believe that names should be more informative vs. anything else so that your customers will know immediately what your business is all about. Then there are the rest that believe a coined name that are made from made-up words are more memorable than name that use real words and are much more successful. Reality is much more open than that; reality says that any name can be quite effective if it is working hand in hand with the appropriate marketing plan. Here are a few helpful tips to get you started in selecting the right company name.
1. Get An Expert To Help
Finding the right business name can be a complicated task and it can take its toll; this is where consulting an expert might be helpful to you. There are naming firm that have elaborate systems for creating new names and as experts, they know their way around business trademark laws; this is a bonus for you. They will advise you with the names you may have come up with and what will work. They will also help you create the best name with what your company does and will do in the future. Beware though, there is a downside to getting help from an expert; the cost.
Professional naming companies charge a large fee just to develop your business name; this does include other things like the design of the work, name and, brand as a whole.
2. What Is In A Name?
When creating a name, the first thing you want to do is decide on which way you want your name to communicate. It must reiterate what your business stands for and will do for the public; these are the key elements of your business. Your work in finding a niche in the industry you wish to be a part of and a mission statement will help you that which you want to emphasize in your name.
The more your name speaks to your customers about your business, the less effort it will take to explain it. According to some experts, people who are starting their own business much give priority to real words or combinations of words over made up words to express a more direct and easy to understand statement in their business name.
3. Be Creative
In a time that nearly every existing word in nearly every language as been trademarked, the option of coining one’s own business name is becoming more popular. Some examples of this are:
- Acura
- Compaq
By working with different word segments, the more meaningful and unique your business name is going to be. However, be careful, this is not always a fool-proof solution.
4. Test It Out
After you have spared down the choices of names to a manageable number, preferably 4 or 5, you are ready to do some research on the trademark of your names; keep in mind that not every business name need to be trademarked, as long as your state government gives you the ok and you are not using or infringing on another business’ name, you are good to go.
5. Final Analysis
Now that you have done the above, it is time to make a final choice but first a final analysis. Remember all of your initial criteria; what names best fits the objectives and which names most closely describes the company you have in mind? Do you see the final result? It is possible but there is the physical test you must perform to gain a final analysis.
Some entrepreneurs come to their final choice by going with their gut or by doing some consumer research with a focus group to see how the name is perceived. You can create a small idea of what each name will look like on a make shift sign or some business stationary to present it better to the focus group to give them something more tangible to have in their hands. There are things like this that you can do; the main idea is to give you information that will help make your decision easier.
Now that you have made a choice in what name your business will be, it is time to make more decisions but that is ok because the biggest one has already been made.
Author Bio
Angela Finitas likes to think up creative company names in her role as a naming consultant. She also writes for Nameperfection a site that sells handselected brandable domain names.
