CHOOSING A NAME FOR YOUR BUSINESS

An expert’s advice on getting your business name right from the off

Grant Polachek, head of branding for Squadhelp.com, gives us the benefit of his hard-earned wisdom.

As we spend more time on the internet, it’s becoming impossible to ignore the overwhelming volume of advertisements and social media posts we see from all different kinds of companies. The sheer amount we receive daily has numbed us to their effect – so much that you probably wouldn’t be able to describe the last five ads you saw if we asked you. And because there are too many ads to recall, every company needs to focus on boosting their brand recognition by getting a short and memorable business name. Take it from us; customers find it easier to recall brands with short and catchy business names.

But getting a compelling brand name that your audience can associate with your brand is a challenging task. So we’re going to demystify naming by showing you three major naming keys to help you find a captivating name for your small business and save valuable time.

Start By Knowing Your Brand
Finding a solid name for your small business is like striking gold. The immense value a strong name can contribute to your business can lift it from obscurity to fame. And the first key to unlocking the perfect name is knowing your brand and developing a robust brand imagination.

Brand imagination refers to your capacity to create a detailed mental image of your small business, and this influences how your customers regard your small business.

To ignite your brand’s imagination, answer the following questions:

How should your brand feel and look to your audience?
What are its guiding values?
What tone are you trying to convey?
What sort of emotional reaction are you trying to elicit?

Addressing these questions will put you in the greatest position to come up with excellent business name ideas.
Also, the remaining stages will be simpler if you know who you are as a company and how you compare to your competitors. And yes, don’t be discouraged if this first step takes a while to set up.

Focus on Generating Great Name Ideas

Here’s the enjoyable part! To pinpoint your company’s name, gather your naming team (if you have one), get a whiteboard and some markers, and start brainstorming. There is no need to assess the names just yet because the brainstorming process is not analytical.

All you need to focus on is creatively concentrating on finding a short and catchy name. And while brainstorming, don’t hesitate to jot down all the name ideas you find, even if they’re good, bad, or ugly. After all, an iffy word may just evolve into something special.

If you happen to hit a creative block while brainstorming, use these tools to add some fire to your creativity:

Thesaurus or dictionary
Industry slang
Visual names
Getting a crowdsourced business name

We also advise any small business owner to involve people from various demographic groups and different backgrounds while brainstorming. This will help you decide if your business needs a modern or traditional name.

By the time you finish this stage, you should have a list of at least 200 potential names. It’s now time to begin shortening the list.

Go through and eliminate any words or names that don’t fit your brand’s personality or target market. Once you have a selection of around ten reliable names, we can proceed to the next phase.

Authenticate Your Name Ideas
We all hope that the name we loved most was the best one for our business. But before declaring victory, you must run your beloved name through some tests.

Here’s a simple outline of what you need to do while validating your chosen name:

Gather Customer Feedback: One way to get a name customers will love is to ensure that they’re involved in the naming process. Ask your family, friends, neighbors, and even people you know from the neighborhood grocery store about their thoughts on your brand name. Gathering feedback will help you find a name that your target audience loves.

Check for Domain Availability: Every business needs a solid online presence. Therefore, ensure your chosen name has a decent top-level domain that is accessible before picking it for your business.

Trademark Verification: Verifying if your name can be secured with a trademark is the final stage in the authentication process. This is significant since most words carry a trademark to some extent. You’ll avoid future difficulties and legal costs by having this knowledge upfront.

Conclusion

Finding the correct name for your company will transform your business’s fortunes since exceptional names quickly attract people and boost sales, improving your financial performance.

So, invest time in finding an excellent company name that’s in tune with the tone and attitude of your firm and resonates with your target client. Even a fantastic company with a unique product can suffer on social media if it doesn’t have a memorable name.

Creating a captivating brand name is critical to the success of your company. This will make it simpler to generate enthusiasm and attract new clients.

Grant Polachek is the head of branding for Squadhelp.com, 3X Inc 5000 startup and disruptive naming agency. Squadhelp has reviewed more than 1 million names and curated a collection of the best available names on the web today. They are also the world’s leading crowdsource naming platform, supporting clients from early-stage startups to Fortune 500 companies.