9 Useful Things To Remember When You Name A Business

When you name a business, you should think of what they say about naming a dog.

I’m sure you’ve heard the expression:

Give a dog a bad name and hang it!

Well, as business goes, when you name a business, I say:

Give a business a bad name and kill it!

It seems to me that many of you must be thinking about starting new businesses or rebranding.

Why? Because a number of you have been asking me for ideas to name a business.

Now, I don’t know if I have much expertise in this area.

You see, I believe  there simply is no formula for you to follow in deciding how to name a business. (Although some people tend to use a business name generator).

But I certainly have some commonsense observations which I am gladly sharing with you, to help you name your next business.

1. What you name your business matters

Some of you treat naming a businesses like how I notice new home builders approach building their houses.

Some homeowners build houses worth $500,000 and then secure them with $50 locks.

Similarly, some business owners pay lots of attention to product and branding and store layout and CRM systems, etc.

And then give the business a crappy name.

Look, inappropriate names, names that are difficult to spell and pronounce, names that make people go “huh?!” They can all drive your potential customers in the other direction.

2.  Make sure that the name is available online

Yeah…Imagine this:

You choose a name for your business. You design all your marketing and you’re ready to launch.

Then, you attempt to buy the domain that is your business name. And it’s not available. 

When I come up with a name for a business, for myself or for a client, I immediately check for “business name availability”. 

First, I check it in the “Business Name Registration” section in my local corporate affairs department.

Next, I check at any of the popular domain name providers to see if the form of the URL I want is also available.

Checking to see if your oh-so-hot-business-name is available early in the naming process can save you time, money and pain.

Especially if you discover it’s not available.

 3.  Let your business name signal what you’re offering

 When I started my training business, I was passionate about providing training and development services that would make an impact on my clients and the rest of the world.

I also wanted a name that would let people know immediately what my business could do for them. The name Impact Training & Development Services (ITDS) did exactly that.

This is unlike one which I registered called Clockwork Enterprises.

At the time I registered it, we as a business family were in a spiritual place where everything was going for us like clockwork.

Two weeks later, I reviewed the name.

I realised that there was always going to be a disconnect between the name and the purpose of the business.

I concluded that people would be either bringing us watches and clocks to be fixed or expecting to buy them from us.

Then there was “The Business of Being in Business”.

The more I worked with small businesses, the more I became alarmed that many small business owners only knew how to buy and sell products, deliver their services or whatever they established their business to do.

They did not understand business systems or  their business models. 

They did not understand the difference between revenue and profit or what affected cashflow. 

In other words, they did not understand…the business of being in business.

Wanting to help, I established…The Business of Being in Business.

It said exactly what the business is about, and it had a nice ring to it as well.

Naming your business in such a way that lets your target market know what you’re selling will help you to connect with customers faster and grow your business at the speed you want.

4.  Be aware of the mind “pictures’ your business name can create 

When I heard the name “SouthPaw Grafix Inc” I knew immediately that this business was owned by a left-handed graphics designer. The name also suggests creativity in the graphics that are designed.

This is much like the name of a gym I joined and eventually owned.

When I first heard the name First Class Fitness Centre (FCFC) I immediately saw myself receiving top of the line service and services, once I became a member.

It did not hurt either that FCFC was owned by Superior Sporting Services (SSS).

On the other hand, let’s take “Delicate Designs”.

Is there anything about that name that suggests to you they’re in the food business?

When you have too big a disconnect between what the business does and what you name your business, you have to work so much harder to attract the right customers.

As you can expect, this leads to slow growth, which can eventually kill your business.

Sadly, you might not even make the connection between the death of your business and the name of your business.

Furthermore, you may not have the deep pockets of Overstock. 

They now spend loads of money informing us that their business is not what the name suggests.

5.  It should be easy to pronounce, remember and navigate

When I chose the name Impact Training & Development Services for my business, I knew that it was easy to pronounce but I felt it was a bit long.

So, I was counting on my gut feeling that clients would not want to call it every time they refer to the business.

I believed they would eventually shorten it or “sex it up” to suit themselves.

Sure enough, people were soon referring to it as ITDS or Impact Training.

Because I anticipated this, I registered the business so that you could write a cheque to ITDS.

This is unlike a business which has since gone out of business.

Let’s be clear, I’m not suggesting that it went out of business because of the name.

But people just could not seem to get the name right although the business had been in existence for more than three years.

It was frustrating navigating around this name as well, since it was one of those “2.0 names”. People could not remember where to put the dash both online and offline.

6. Try to avoid “hybrid” and “cute” names

Personally, these are approaches to naming a business that I do not like.

What I call a hybrid is when “Richard” and “Lorna” decide to get into business and call that business “Richlor” or “Lornard”.

People respond negatively to these hybrids. Some have even asked me if I couldn’t help the owners with a name.

Despite what I said above, it does not mean that you have to avoid this approach altogether.

JENN Health and Beauty Supplies certainly works.

And JENN is the acronym derived from the first names of the family members.

But note that they supported the acronym with a description of the products it sells.

On the other hand,  Semjen Insurance Brokers does not convince me that my insurance needs will be handled seriously and professionally.

And cute names may or may not work.

“Way Ahead Barber Saloon” I quite like. To me the name implies that the business is way ahead of the competition. To complete the naming, the sign has an arrow pointing the way ahead to the shop’s location.

On the other hand, when I heard the name “Curl Up and Dye” referring to a hair salon, I couldn’t believe it! I kept thinking that any chemical which I get from this salon was likely to make my hair, well…curl up and die!

7. It should not be too limiting

When you name your business, while you want that name to represent what the business does, you still don’t want it to be too limiting.

What do I mean?

If I had named my business “Barbados Training Services” potential clients might believe that they could only access my services if they were in Barbados.

Or, they might think it is a particular type of services which is not for them. 

Then I would have to try to sell them the the idea that “Barbados Training Services” is a special type of training, which could be had anywhere in the world.

I’m sure this would require a marketing effort at a cost that might very well outweigh the benefits.

A name can also be limited by your vision.

Suppose you name your candy store “My Candy Store” because you only saw yourself selling candy.

Later, if an opportunity came along for you to diversify into children clothes, this name could be a problem.

A name like “Sweet Little Things” would have made the transition easier.

Another problem occurs if your ultimate goal is to sell the business. The name of that business can also determine how fast you can achieve that goal.

8. It should be search engine friendly

I hope that this is a serious consideration when you’re naming your business.

The first place a person will rush to if they are looking for something is the internet.

If your business name is not search engine optimized (SEO), the likelihood of it coming up in a search will be very remote.

Now, this does not mean that you should come up with a name that’s so search engine friendly that it makes no sense to us here on earth.

It does mean, however, that you should use “F” instead of “PH” when a word is known to begin with “F” and “quick” instead of “kwik”.

9.  You are free to ignore 1 – 8 above.

You really are…

Believe me, you can name your business anything you like…

If you have the marketing budget to get your customers to quickly understand what it means.

You can also ignore the above tips and hire a naming company.

But if your budget is limited, you could end up with the right name and nothing left to start up.

Not cool at all…

Your next “name a business” step…

Just remember that when it comes to starting a business, what you choose as a name for your business, should be taken as seriously as the other aspects of the start up process.

You need to to get clear on the purpose for the business and your business model and let your business name reflect this.

And don’t be afraid to run it by your network or business mentors.

If you’ve built these out properly, they’re sure to include some connections who can give you some sound advice.

So what’s in a name?

As they say: Everything!

And when that name is the name of your business, it’s Everything Inc.

To you sensible business name next time around…