Branding your business with a sharp business name is important
Congratulations on deciding to start a new business! There are many things to consider now, lots of ideas and strategies to put in place, but first, you’ll need to get ahead of your competition by considering some catchy business name ideas.
Choosing the correct business names is a process. Your company name can be carefully chosen to assist your marketing efforts and can be used to attract new clients and prospects and also to entice them to explore what you can do for them. Business names should be simple enough to stick-and- stay in customer’s minds. Experts suggest two, maybe three words maximum.
Sound good? Are you wondering how you can come up with company name ideas that are simple, but still pop? First, let’s explore a few unwritten laws that could spell the end before it’s begun!
Law #1: Kutesy Spelling
Of course, “cutesy” isn’t spelled with a “k”. This example points out a common mistake people make when naming companies. Don’t you make it! If you get too cutesy with spelling, potential clients may wonder if you’re just plain stupid.
Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Get plenty of feedback before you make a final decision.
Law #2: Naming after your Town, City or State
Let’s suppose you’re establishing a lawn care business in ‘Townsend village’ It’s tempting to just slap the name “Townsend Village Lawn Care” on 5000 business cards, isn’t it?
This is self-limiting and could possibly give the wrong impression before you even start!
Why?
In a city the size of Townsend village, probably dozens of lawn care businesses already exist with that name. Also, at first sight, your business would be limited to Townsend village, disregarding the surrounding areas.
Law #3: Too Many Names
Consumers have a short attention span. Let’s presume your family is opening a health food store. Should business name ideas include everyone in your entire family? If so, it might end up looking something like this – Bob’s, Susan’s, Enid’s, Angela Sue’s and so on and so forth Health Foods.
Don’t do it! Aim for short, sharp, snappy business names that your customers will remember easily. As a general rule, names should only be used when a personal brand has been built up beforehand or is key to the business.
So, how can you start to generate some great business name ideas?
#1 Make a List
To begin the process, put pen in hand and write about what you will sell or service.
Let’s do a practice run with the intention of naming a pie shop. What words come to your mind to describe pies? For example: baked, pastry, crust, fruit, chiffon, crème, flaky, etc.
Next, what would you want customers to say about your pies to family and friends? What makes your pies magic? What compliments have you received in the past? “Angelic! Makes me smile!”
#2 Getting Company Name Ideas
Once you’ve exhausted your list of descriptive words and statements, experiment with word combinations to see what grabs you. Look up synonyms for the words you’ve listed.
Alliterations (words beginning with the same letter) make catchy business names. Rhyming names are attention grabbers.
Be patient! It may take a while to find the perfect fit.
Take a look at your testimonials or feedback from any beta testers of your product or service. You’ve already got two potentials for business name ideas: Angelic Pies, Smiley Pies.
#3 Business Name Generator
So, what if you explore hundreds of potential names for your start up business, but none possess that WOW factor? Maybe you could benefit by using an online business name generator.
Here are a couple of great examples you can use;
Free, sophisticated services use high-tech investigative tools to help generate dozens of possibilities for your product, company or service..
Eventually, one of the business name ideas will just click. Then, it’s time to celebrate and start branding!
A couple of good examples of quirky business names that I came across recently were Peerius: Recommendation Software – Their product enables businesses to provide recommendations to website users, powered by behavior which allows true, personalised product suggestions to be shown to each individual web user. The name Peerius just invokes curiosity.
How did you determine your business name?
I would love you to share your story for generating business name ideas or how you made the final decision on your business name below.
