This post is also available in: 简体中文 (Chinese (Simplified))
Finding the Right Business Name – The Key Traits
After you’ve done all that planning, the next important step is to choose your business name. It is important to pick the right one! Having a good business name not only helps attract customers but it also contributes toward your company’s branding when you are looking for potential investors. Your brand must tell an enticing story so as to attract potential investors to want to further invest in your business, and this includes your business name. Your business name is the first thing a customer will notice, and if you pick the right one, it will stick. The first impression is crucial, it either is memorable or easily forgotten.
Good business names evoke a strong passion for your brand, while bad names may result in indifference or worse, distaste. A business name summarises the essence of your company. It will be your unique take on the industry and it will help you stand out! The specific values and beliefs attached to the name will further assist you in creating a bond with your customers. Plus, this will instil a sense of belonging and pride among your employees, which will encourage them to be brand ambassadors for the company. It is important to create and build a brand that’s memorable, consistent, and captivating to capture and keep the attention of consumers as well as attract potential investors. Branding and reputation are things that take time to build and earn. However, a good business name will serve as a stepping stone to building a good impression of the brand. A great business name can be a competitive advantage for your company, especially when there are two or more businesses that are offering similar services.
Key Traits
Although there aren’t any guides to creating a good business name, we have listed some key traits that will help you in coming up with a good business name. Keep your name short and sweet. Short names are ideal as they’re brandable and easy to remember. It is ideal to have two to four syllables. Besides that, something easy to pronounce is also a plus point because it would be easier to read and will stick easier in the consumer’s mind. Apart from this, when choosing a business name, you should also consider a sticky name. This means the name you choose should be catchy or sticky so that it would naturally stay in the consumer’s mind. It is encouraged to be original when choosing one’s business name, but depending on the industry there’s bound to be a competitor with a similar name. The pros of creating a new word, be it an abbreviation of something longer or a new word completely, is that it’ll be unique and special to you. However, the cons for this is the advertising and branding cost will be higher as you are introducing something new to the consumers. If you decide to go down the road of choosing existing names that come with established meanings, those terms are most likely also used by your competitor. The benefit is that there is no need to spend extra money to establish and introduce your brand to the consumers. The cons would be whether the trademark and domain names are available, which brings us to the next point. You should ensure the trademark and domain name is available. This is so that you don’t end up with a business name similar or identical to your competitor. Next, your brand name should portray the message you’d like to deliver to your customers. This will help you lure customers to your store. Listed below is a simple way to ensure that you are on the right path when choosing your business name.
SMILE: The five qualities of a super sticky name
- Suggestive: It evokes something about your brand.
- Memorable: It is rooted in the familiar.
- Imagery: It is visually evocative to aid in memory.
- Legs: It lends itself to a theme for extended mileage.
- Emotional: It moves people.
SCRATCH: The seven deal breakers of a name
- Spelling-challenged: It looks like a typo.
- Copycat: It is similar to competitors’ names.
- Restrictive: It limits future growth.
- Annoying: It is forced or frustrates customers.
- Tame: It is flat, undescriptive or uninspired.
- Curse of knowledge: Only insiders get it.
- Hard to pronounce: It is not obvious or is unapproachable.
Examples of Great Company Names
Some examples of companies with great business names are, ‘IKEA’, ‘Google’, ‘Amazon.com’, etc. The meanings behind these names usually fulfil most of the qualities mentioned above. We’ll elaborate on a few examples to give you a better picture. Take ‘Amazon.com’, it was founded to be the “everything store.” The name “Amazon” was selected because it was a place that was perceived as exotic and different. The founder had a vision to make his store the biggest in the world and likened this to the largest river in the world, the Amazon River. The word ‘Amazon’ isn’t linked to retail and e-commerce, which makes it more memorable. It is unique in its own way and reflects the vision the founder had for his company. Another example is ‘IKEA’. The word ‘IKEA’ is a random collection of words, which was created using the first letters of the founder’s name and the Swedish property in the village where he grew up. The next one would be ‘Google’. Nowadays, ‘Google’ is used as a term with the meaning ‘to search’. ‘Google’ is the name of a search engine. The name Google was a spelling accident when they registered the domain name. Originally the name ‘googol’ was proposed which carried the meaning of ten raised to the power of a hundred. It was proposed to reflect the company’s mission to organise the immense amount of information online. Google worked simply because it was distinct and fun to say, and has now become the common catchphrase to tell someone to search for something on the Internet.
If you aren’t as creative with coming up with a business name, fret not, you could use a few free name generators. Listed below are links of a few free name generators.