Your business name is more than simply an identifier, business names carry weight as a first impression as well as an anchor to the brand identity. It also serves as a critical point in a business’ marketing strategy. With a good name, a business can attract customers, build trust, as well as gain a reputation in the industry.
A bad or confusing business name on the other hand can bring forth confusion, limit growth, or even be a business nightmare in the form of legal problems which are quite expensive.
The increased use of the internet has brought increased attention spans in the public. With this comes increased competition which makes the pressure to come up with a good name even harder. Entrepreneurs often run through a lot of ideas, even as many as hundreds, and are still stuck in a mental block.
Most entrepreneurs are more than willing to spend weeks and even months mulling over this simple yet perplexing decision of making a choice of business name.
The question then becomes, what makes a business name a good one distinct from the rest? After looking through many brands, we have simple yet effective suggestions, 5 things that make a good business name
In this guide, we will outline five essential things to consider for creating a business name. Each principle will be explained thoroughly, with relevant examples and actionable suggestions, to ensure you choose a name that resonates with you and accelerates your business success.
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What are the 5 Things That Make a Good Business Name?
1. Importance to Your business and Audience Focus.
The first rule for any business name is its relevance. The name must embody fully the essence of the business and echo the target market. A name that targets your industry directly and the product/service being offered helps customers around to know what the business entails.
As an instance, when opening a bakery, the name “Sweet Delights Bakery” very much informs what the business is about while the name “Smithson’s Enterprises” leaves customers guessing. The business name should also provide the framework for the branding, marketing, and messaging.
Key Considerations for Relevance:
Is the name reflective of the business activity? A name is good if it provides an immediate answer to the business “What is this about?”.
Is it suitable for your target market? For a younger more tech oriented market, a name that is sleeker and more fresh will work. For a more sophisticated luxury brand, a name that is chic and classy will work.
- As an instance, if you provide customers with eco-friendly products, you directly capture the market with the name “Green Solutions”.
2. Simplicity and Easy Pronunciation
Be certain to keep your business’s name simple. Focus on the critical elements first; is it simple to say, spell, and recall? A name that is overly complex in structure or difficult to say will put prospective clients in a zone of frustration and confusion, will make it much harder for anything they do online, and will be more difficult to recommend to friends.
Proper business names help eliminate confusion, and that helps for the business being successful trying for first-hand marketing. Without the person being able to easily recall or pronounce the name, there is very little that will be helpful in getting the word across.
Important things to be considered
- Is it simple to spell and pronounce? Test your name by saying it out loud. If it’s hard to say, it’s likely not the right choice.
- Is it brief? Do yourself a favor and keep long structures at arms length. The optimal length is no more than three words.
Examples
“Google” versus “Acme Corporation for Technological Innovations” , the first is simple, short, easy to remember whilst the latter complex and not easy to recall at all.
3. Uniqueness & Distinctiveness:
Your business name tells a lot about you as an individual. You don’t want any name that sounds similar to other competitors to avoid confusion. A name that is distinct enough can be trademarked, which is a plus for building your brand.
Why it’s Important:
- Legal Protection: Trademarks are easier to obtain for unique names, thus protecting you from other imitators.
- SEO & Online Presence: A unique name improves your chances of finding your social media pages as well as ranking in search engines. If your name is too common, you can be sure you will not be easily found.
- Brand Building: A unique name provides an opportunity to define the meaning of the name, similar to how Apple is known for redefining a fruit to symbolize innovation, which provides a lot of freedom to customer experience and branding.
Achieving Unique Name:
- Conduct Extensive Research: You want to avoid falling in love with a name. Do a quick Google Search and identify reels of other businesses which compare to your name in and out of your country.
- Don’t use Generic Phrases: “Elite Solutions” or “Quality Services” is bland, forgettable and impossible to trademark.
- Be Bold: Don’t be afraid to be different. Google, Yahoo, and Zappos were all unconventional choices that paid off enormously by being distinctive.
- Tailword: Blend a new word together and form a portmanteau
Example: In the meal-kit delivery space, HelloFresh is a unique and distinctive name, while “Home Chef Delivery” is generic and would be incredibly difficult to own and rank for.
4. Longevity & Scalability: Building a Name for the Future
The name of your business should have room for growth and legs of its own. It should not restrict you to a particular area of focus, physical location, a unique item, or a faddish limitation. It must have the capacity for growth and development. Ask yourself, “is this name going to fit when the time comes to sell major other products?” You wouldn’t want to be in a position where you need to change the name to “San Francisco Cupcakes” because that would make it useless for the nationwide sales of cookies.
Why it matters:
- Saves Money: The business will not have to spend a lot of resources and time that would be wasted during the rebranding process. This naming strategy will make it easier to keep going in the future.
- Supports Growth: The name should not be so rigid that it expands the company’s reach, sales, or product offerings.
- Avoids Obsolescence: Trend-based nouns, like “Web 2.0 Solutions”, will always lose their relevance and sound dated to listeners.
How to Achieve It:
- Avoid Geographic Limitations: Even if you are confident that you will not expand in the future, do not include your city or region in your business’s name. An example of this is “Austin Auto Repair”.
- Consider a Classic approach avoiding Slang and transitory words, and instead, focusing on Words and Sounds which are Timeless.
- Fantasize more: Some of the more scalable names are abstract, and thus, it is easier to fantasize.
Example: Stripe is a fantastic example of scalability. While it subtly suggests connectivity (like an API stripe), it doesn’t limit the company to a specific type of payment or financial product, allowing it to expand its services infinitely.
5. Availability & Legality: Securing Your Digital and Legal Identity
There are no compromises about this, it is very practical. Availability includes social media, domain names as well as trademark status. A fantastic, unique, and significant name is worthless if it cannot be legally owned or used for online purposes.
- Domain First: Before you get attached, check for the .com domain. While other TLDs (.io, .co, .net) are acceptable, .com is still the gold standard and most trusted by consumers.
- Conduct a Trademark Search: Use your country’s trademark database (e.g., the USPTO’s TESS system in the U.S.) to ensure the name isn’t already registered in your industry.
- Secure Social Media Handles: Use a tool like Namechk or Knowem to check for the availability of your desired name across dozens of social networks.
- Be Flexible: Be prepared to adapt. If your perfect name is taken as a .com, consider variations, but ensure they are still simple and don’t compromise the other principles (e.g., adding “get” or “try” at the beginning).
Example: You might dream of the name “Apex,” but if apex.com is taken by a large corporation and the trademark is active in your class of goods, you must move on. It’s better to choose a less perfect name you can own than a perfect name you can’t.
Conclusion: 5 Things That Make a Good Business Name
A business name is an important consideration, the name you choose for your business shouldn’t be overly complex. Mapping your ideas to the five pillars—Memorability, Relevance, Uniqueness, Longevity, and Availability—will help you focus your thinking and steer clear of common mistakes while naming your business..
Think outside the box, and once you have a few selected names, spend time testing them to find out which is the best name for your business, and which will resonate the most with the target audience. The right name is out there just waiting to be uncovered.
