Are you starting a business and stressing over what to name it? Or do you have a business, but the name just isn’t working, and you wonder if you should change it? If so, you are not alone. Your business name is part of your business brand identity. If you choose the right business name that sends the right message, it can make a huge difference in whether your customers take your business seriously, view it as a successful entity, or shy away from your brand entirely.
Many small business owners don’t realize the long-term implications of naming and may choose a name without much thought. Not getting it right the first time can cost your business a lot of money and effort later if you have to change the name. Think of all the time you spent on creating brand visibility that is now wasted and how much more you need to invest in doing it all again.
I have gone through this exercise when I renamed my business from Vista Consulting to Masterful Marketing. Although my transition was somewhat smooth, I have seen others that truly were a nightmare. Luckily for me, my business was young, and the switch was relatively painless.
If the name you originally chose is not the right fit for your business (as was mine) and causes confusion about what you do, make the move to a name that helps to simplify your marketing. Naming or renaming your business takes planning and execution, but in the long run, if you choose a business name that projects the right image, it is more than worth the effort.
Benefits of Choosing a Strong Business Name
Choosing a business name that works for your business has many benefits:
- Sets the tone for your business
- Helps people understand what you do
- Attracts the right audience for your products and services
- Makes your marketing easier
- Increases memorability
What to Consider When Changing Your Business Name
If your business name isn’t working for you, take time to assess the areas that will be impacted by the change. Create a plan to address those changes before you begin the process.
- If your business is incorporated in your state, you will need to submit a name modification in your corporate filing. You may also need to do this in your town.
- Look to see if you can get the domain name to match your new business name. You should update the domain and redirect the old to the new. Same with email. Set up new emails using the new domain but keep the other as an alias.
- You might need to update your social media accounts. For consistency, you need to change your Facebook business page name, Google Business profile name, and LinkedIn company name.
- Most likely your business has citations. Research and update directory listings. If you are a local business, you will need to spend time claiming all the business listings, changing the name and verifying that you are the business owner.
- A name change warrants a change or modification of your logo, website design, brochures, and business cards. Determine whether the name change is significant enough to make the cost of updating all these brand assets worth it.
How to Brainstorm Business Name Ideas
Many small business owners handle this exercise by either choosing a name without much thought or using something they like but doesn’t offer the benefits of a really descriptive name. Before you get into a naming strategy session, view this research that helps you understand which types of name are most interesting to customers and appeal to investors.
If you are not sure what would be a good name for your business, go through this exercise.
- What are your goals for this name? Set the basic guidelines for the image you want to project. Then create a list of adjectives that describe your business. List terms such as strength, expertise, playfulness, energetic, or flexible.
- Choose a word that describes what your business does, such as marketing, consulting, electrician, or remodeling.
- Take the work that your business does and combine it with the adjectives you chose. Examples could be “agile remodeling” or “energetic healing.” These combinations may not be your exact business name, but they can guide you in the right direction.
- Use that theme to come up with a list of potential names. Spend some time searching for synonyms for the adjectives you chose to describe your business. Sometimes the word combination comes easily. Other times not so. Don’t give up and don’t rush the process.
- Once you come up with a list of viable names, check to see if they are available. Search for the domain name and check with the US Patent and Trademark Office to see if it is trademarked. Then search for the name in search engines to see how it has been used. If you come across any negative results for that name, you may not want to use it for your business name.
Tips on Choosing a Business Name
Keep in Mind:
- Choose a name that is descriptive enough to help people understand what you do but also gives you some flexibility to expand your offerings in the future within your respective niche. If you want to expand to an entirely different area, start a new business. It will be easier to brand and market!
- Get creative and combine real words in a way that is catchy and can be easily branded. If you can include something descriptive as well, you’ve hit the jackpot. Besides making the name memorable, the combined words may make it easier to trademark and get the domain name.
- Make sure the name is easy to pronounce, sounds good, and is easy to spell.
- If you are a global business, make sure the name you choose is not offensive to any culture or translates into a negative word or slang in another language.
- Keep the name as simple as possible – one-word names are the best, two word names are fine. Three short words if you must.
Things to Avoid:
- Names that are so generic that it makes it hard to differentiate you. Go to Google and search for “Computer Services, Inc.” With over 3 billion results, do you think you’ll ever make it to the first page?
- Names that can really date your business. As with everything, there are naming trends that will go out of style.
- Industry jargon in your names. If your clients are outside your industry, they won’t get it, and you’ll have to explain what you do.
- Initials are meaningless and boring. Big brands who have spent millions on branding can adjust (such as IBM and CVS), but a small business with minimal dollars doesn’t have the same advantage.
- Names that don’t clearly relate to your line of business. They may cause confusion with clients and probably won’t show up in Internet searches for your type of product or service.
- Using your name as the business name can be a problem if you want to someday sell your business. If you don’t think you will, that may be an option. Decide whether you are your business or you want something else to brand. (I’ve done both with Masterful Marketing!) Either works, but it’s up to you and your goals.
Register a Trademark
Now that you’ve decided on a great name for your business or service offering and had the perfect logo designed that is unique and memorable, you’ve created a valuable asset for your business.
Many businesses don’t understand the value of registering a trademark for your identifiable assets, but doing so allows you to protect your brand in the event someone infringes on your mark.
The definition of a trademark from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is a word, phrase, symbol, or design, or a combination thereof, that identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods of one party from those of others. Trademarks identify a product, service, person, or thing from others in the same field to avoid confusion and to separate your business from all the others.
You can establish rights based on use of the mark in commerce without a registration. But there are benefits to owning a federal trademark registration:
- Provides greater protection for your most valuable asset, your company name and/or logo;
- Grants you, as the owner, nationwide the right to use its mark in areas where you are not currently doing business;
- Allows you to use the registered trademark symbol, telling the world that you value and will protect your intellectual property rights;
- Eliminates the likelihood of confusion in the market by one of your competitors using the same or a similar trademark on potentially competing products.
In addition, as the trademark owner, social media companies will help you secure your trademark name for your properties. For example, when Facebook enabled you to get a user name for a Facebook business page, I was able to notify Facebook with my trademark information to prevent others from taking it. In my case, Facebook applied Masterful Marketing to my page automatically.
Choose That Ideal Business Name
Coming up with an appropriate name and getting the domain name to match is a challenge. Take the time to brainstorm and create a short, catchy name that works. Or check out this online name generator to get you started. Check to be sure you can acquire the domain name as well.
And never use a name without doing your homework! Research its use and check for trademarks before investing in it. Then protect your name so that you can stop others from infringing upon your rights. Going through the trademark registration process is straightforward, and the legal fees are well worth it.
Getting it right from the beginning makes building awareness and brand recognition more effective. But don’t be discouraged. You will arrive at a name that can become a great brand.
