What’s in a name? For most of us, names are important, but not crucial. We don’t choose friends or spouses based on their names. However, we are influenced and biased by the name of a business – if it has a certain ring to it, we’re tempted to go in and see what they’re selling, or visit their website. On the other hand, if it is a long and complicated name that’s hard to remember, and hard to pronounce too, we are less likely to be interested in buying anything from them.
What Makes a Great Business Name
So, when it comes to naming your business, it is very important to pick the right name. But what is the right name for a business? How do you know if it really has that special ring to it? By looking at some of the most iconic brand names we can surmise something about the top qualities of a great business name:
⦁ It is short, like in Pepsi, Apple, Nike
⦁ It rhymes, like in Coca Cola, Ruby Tuesday
⦁ It is a compound of two words, like in Microsoft, Wal-Mart
⦁ It is an acronym, like in UPS, KFC, HP
⦁ It is the founder’s name, like in Bell, Disney, Dell.
Making a roundup of all these examples, a great and catchy company name is short and memorable, has a specific ring to it, and/or contains the value proposition of the business in it. Now, how can you find such a specific, great sounding name for your business?
1. Brainstorm
It is rightly said that two minds can bring more creative solutions than just one. What about three or four minds? Imagine that you are sitting down with your family and friends on a weekend day. This is a great moment to tell them that you’d need some help to come up with a great name for your home-based business. Of course, there will be a lot of people to suggest using your name as it is, or a simple description of your business, such as “Mary’s Homemade Cookies” (that’s rather long for a business name, by the way), or “Joe’s Craft Store”.
You may bet on your own name as a business name if the business concept revolves 100% on a particular skill or ability that you have. But chances are you will never become as memorable as Michael Dell, Walt Disney, or Alexander Graham Bell.
2. Perform a Keyword Research
Keyword research on Google AdWords tool is not only useful for SEO – it can give you a great idea on how to name your business. As you input the main keyword describing your business, the tool will give you the complete list of phrases and synonyms used by people when they perform a Google search on that topic.
Among all these results, you may find just the right combination of words which makes a catchy business name.
3. Use an Online Business Name Generator Tool
Yes, there is such a thing as a business name generator. In fact, there is quite a significant number of websites which offer you suggestions for a business name. Some of these tools are free, for others you must pay a fee. However, these premium services will go in depth in researching for phrases, words which rhyme, synonyms, neologisms, etc. They will also ask you to fill in various fields related to your business and thus offer you more relevant results than the free tools.
4. Do Not Be Overly Specific
Businesses are organic entities, capable of growing and diversifying their scope and range of products and services. This is why you should not include a specific niche or product name in your business name. Over time, the name may hinder you from developing your business in other directions or it may require you to change your business name. One example in this respect is the worldwide corporation GE. It started out as General Electric, but as it grew and acquired businesses from other industry, it had to reduce its name to the acronym in order to avoid complete rebranding.
5. Check That the Business Name Is Free to Use
You have just had a brilliant idea about naming your business…but so did someone else a few months or years before you. In this case, you need to start looking for another business name. At any rate, do not incorporate a business name or buy an internet domain name until you perform a check that it is not already taken by another business.
Leaving aside the legal issues concerning the unauthorized use of a registered trademark, you wouldn’t want your customers to become confused and to supply your competitor with new clients and sales from your marketing efforts.