For some entrepreneurs naming your business can feel like the naming of your child. In the 3rd day of the 7 Day Startup, we spend some time working on our name and the key is to not over-think it.
Just like with naming a child, choosing your own name can have some complications in the future (no offence to all the jnr’s and snr’s out there!) Here are 3 things to consider about naming your business after yourself:
- Do you currently, or intend to, have a Business Partner?
- Do you plan on Selling Your Business at any stage?
- Do you have brand recognition for yourself under some other venture or name?
If any of these could make having your business named after yourself, it might be best to keep reading.
Choosing a Business Name:
You only need to spend one day on your business name because it will probably change, it distracts you from more important things that could influence your brand, you will grow into your name, you can change the name if necessary, and your customers don’t really care.
Come up with a few options:
To start out consider some possible options. Look around and get inspiration. For example, Apple was named after and apple farm and Adobe after a creek near the founder’s house. You can also extend a word, modify a word in the dictionary, or simply outsource it to crowdSPRING.com . It doesn’t matter where the name comes from, come up with ten names and then apply it to the following framework.
Framework for Choosing an Acceptable Business Name:
- Is it taken? Check if it trademarked in your region at Australian Business Registrar or here if you are or thinking of being US based or global. Is the domain name taken? Is the Twitter handle taken? Check to see on which social media site it is active on knowem.com, which is very easy to use. These aren’t deal breakers they are just guidelines.
- Is it Simple Something simple is favourable, for example don’t use commonly misspelled words and try to keep the name less than 12 characters. “Every one of the top 25 brands in the world is 12 characters or less”.
- Is it easy to say out loud? Since word of mouth is essential to landing and keeping customers the name has to sound good.
- Do You like it? You will have to say it a lot so like it!
- Does it make sense for your idea? It is a real winner if the name matches your idea, for example dropbox says what it does.
- Broader is Better Since the company is starting, don’t tie yourself down to something like a geographical location in the name.
If the name you want at .com is taken – don’t just choose .biz or .net, especially if there is something similar on the .com as best case, you will confuse your customers; worst case, they will try and shut you down!
If you can’t get the .com but must keep the name you have come up with, 2 alternatives that are becoming more popular now are .co and .io, the latter being used for web applications, tools, mobile apps etc.
Take Action:
Take out a scrap of paper (a napkin is enough) and brainstorm as many names as you can and use the checklist above to gauge which one is best for you.
Ready to take Massive Action? You can register your business now, online and lock it in. We’ve used this awesome service for all of our businesses now, it’s super simple, powerful, and will have you up and running legally in the next 30 minutes. Check it out here. They are an Australian Company Register service. Let us know if you need a hand.
Still having issues? Leave us a comment below or join us on the Rapid Startups Facebook community where other entrepreneurs can help you out.