Archive for June, 2009
Develop a List of Business Names
June 26th, 2009 | 
Author: After taking all of the previous questions into consideration, it is best to formulate a list of possible names for your business and then make your decision.
- Enlist other people to help you come up with names. Sharing your ideas with other people who understand the nature of your business and the market that you are targeting can be interesting. They can often come up with names that you have not thought of.
- After you make your list, sort the names according to priority. Then go back and look at the questions on the previous page to see if the selected names meet most of the criteria for choosing an effective business name.
- Resort your list of names and establish their final priority. You will now have the most desirable candidates for your business name.
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How Do You Choose a Name for Your Business?
There are several questions you can ask yourself when you are considering the name for your business. Some of them might be as follows:
- Are you buying a franchise? If so, chances are that the business will already be named. In that case, your problem is solved for you. If not, the franchisor will guide you as to what names will be acceptable to them.
- Are you buying an existing business? You will have to decide if you want to keep the current name of the company or rename it. Ask yourself if the current name suits your vision of the business and if it is important to keep it the same in order to best serve previous customers. If the answer is “no”, you will have to decide on a new name. If so, apply the following questions to the renaming of the business.
- Is your name descriptive of the business? It is important that your business name conveys an image of your products and/or services. The name should not be long and cumbersome. Your target market needs to perceive that yours is the company that can solve its problems and fill its needs. • If your business expands, will the name still be appropriate? The name you choose should not be restrictive. It should be general enough that it will still encompass the essence of the company after several years’ growth and expansion.
- How well will your name combine with your logo? Can the name be abbreviated and be utilized as an acronym? Can you incorporate it into your logo to further brand your company? I have used OM..IM with my logo (a fanned book). It looks great, but when you say it out loud, it doesn’t have much of a ring to it.
- Should you consider using your domain name as your business name? Many companies who operate solely on the Internet choose to use their domain names as their business names. Examples are “buy.com” and “Amazon.com”. If the company has brand identity, using its domain name provides customers with instant recall of both name and location on the net.
- Where will your name fall in alphabetical listings? It has long been a habit on most occasions to place lists of names in alphabetical order. This holds true for telephone books, internet listings, membership directories, etc. People also tend to choose the first name that they perceive as appropriate to what they are looking for. If it will work for you, you might just as well choose a name beginning with “A” as one that begins with “Z”
- Will your name work internationally? Sometimes, a company name does not translate well in other languages. “Osco” was the name of a well-known drugstore in the U.S. The name did not have a pleasant meaning in Spanish. The name was changed to maintain the large Hispanic customer base.
- What is your legal structure? Depending on the legal structure you have chosen (and the form of that legal structure), your name may have to reflect that choice. For instance, corporation names generally end with “Inc.” Law firm partnerships often have the designation “LLP”.
- Would your business be best served by using your own name? Many service providers (and/or product sellers) already have name identity and credibility. In that case, it might be best to use your own name, either by itself or in conjunction with words that describe your business. Some examples might be:
- Naming a law firm “Ortega and Chavez, LLP”
- Incorporating a tax firm under the name, “Lopez and Ochoa, Inc.”
- Naming a company “Mario Ortega Professional Diving School”
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Name Your Company!
Choosing your business name will be one of the most important decisions you will make when you are starting your company. It is the first opportunity you have to package – or brand – your company for everyone with whom your business will be dealing.
Whenever your company name is heard or viewed in written form, it will be the defining factor as to how your company is initially perceived (branded) in the mind of your target audience. If your company manages to stay in business for the next twenty years, the name you chose will still be with you unless you changed it somewhere along the way.
Many times a prospective business owner is in a hurry and picks a company name that seems to be appropriate at the time, only to find out later on that it has become a nemesis. That actually happened in my own case.
My company name, established in 1986, has the name OUT OF YOUR MIND…AND INTO THE MARKETPLACETM. I taught entrepreneurial classes to inventors and called the class by the same name. I was soon selling a self-help book, also by the same name. Then I needed a business name to obtain a business license, repay sales tax to the SBE, and to file income tax returns. Why not use the same name? And that’s just what I did. That was fine at the time, but eventually, I became a publisher of business books and business plan software. I began dealing with large companies, universities and colleges, and other major clients and venders. It has now been twenty-one years since I named my company. Others say what a neat name it is.
As for me, I have regretted it for every reason, but one – it is memorable. It does not reflect what I do (publishing business books and developing business plan software), it is not a very serious sounding name, and it sometimes embarrasses me to say it in front of certain audiences with whom I have had no previous business relationship.
However, after twenty-one years, I would be hard-put to change the name and to get the information out to my expanded marketplace. I have learned to smile and accept that it is my business name and will be until the business dies. However, I have had to combat it with a dignified logo, credibility, and incredible customer service.
