How to develop a Great Business Name
Trying to develop a business name can be one of the hardest things that any business owner will do. The contstant tennis match of using your own name vs creating a very unique one (ie, like Google) can be a challenge.
Here are 7 tips to help you get started on how to develop a great business name:
- Look for inspiration around you and use it, take note of anything that you like – colour, shape, a name, an object – all of it serves to help you pinpoint a name.
- Start with a list of words/names you would like to use and then look up their definition, by doing this it starts to give you a better understanding to the word you are using and allows you to think of images that may stimulate emotions when you hear or read it – these are important to take note of because you can also use these images to help with your logo design too!
- Search (or google) those words online and see what images you happen to find in an image search. A search will tell you who else is using that word or name, or what is thought of when that word is used. Remember to record your findings as this will help you to develop your logo as the next step.
- Purposely make a mistake, see what happens with your words if you mis-spell them (ie, spelling them phonetically rather than grammatically), see what happens if you join words together, does this create new words for you, does it create your own unique word. Here is the time to experiement and see what happens.
- Don’t underestimate using a name that explains what you do in one simple word. Sometimes keeping it simple is better than being too clever. You might use a word that is used in the definition or the process of your business. When creating a name it is important to stick with words that are easy to pronounce, otherwise people wont get it.
- Once you have developed a short list of names (no more than 6) ask people that you in your target audience or who would buy your product or service what there thoughts are. Dont ask your next door neighbour or the bloke at the pub, they’ll just tell you what they like, based on emotion and not offer you feedback based on fact or use.
- When you have narrowed it down be sure to check business and local registeries to see if the name is available and look out for the domain name for your website too.
You can follow these 7 easy steps to help you create a new and unique business name.
If you are really suck with coming up with a business name that is unique, impactful and tells people what you do it may be time to speak to a Branding Expert to assist you with the process.