Enterprise Insights: How to choose the right business name?

Posted on: 15 April 2021 in Enterprise

What comes first the idea or the name?

Sometimes, it can be a chicken and the egg scenario but most times, the idea will come first and you are left with the daunting challenge of coming up with a name for your business.

You first need to feel confident and reassure yourself that you will know the right name when it comes.

Some considerations to have when choosing a name for your business are:

1. Rushing your name

If you came across a name you really like, don’t just rush forward with it. Take time to stop and think about it for a little while, this is a big decision and can sometimes make or break a business.

2. Don’t limit your options

You can’t predict the future, so even if your idea is something small, dream big!

When choosing a name, think about the bigger picture, what other areas could your business develop into?

Take ‘Kate’s Bags’ for example, this name would completely limit the products or services this business could offer. Even if the business decided to expand, the audience may not consider this name to offer anything other than bags.

If you changed this to a more open name like ‘Kate Spade’ then this would enable the business to expand and adapt to new product lines, services, or any other ventures you would like to take on.

3. Making it personal

As with the above example, consider if your business will be a personal brand or not. If it is your personal brand consider using your name or alias. This mainly works well for consultants, coaches, and designers.

4. Keep a focus on the future

A personal brand would be a good option for your business whilst your working on it, but another consideration to keep in mind is if, like me, you’re a serial entrepreneur and may want to sell your business in the future. If you are thinking of creating a business to sell, then you may want to reconsider using your personal name.

5. Help your customer/clients

Even using a personal brand name can be difficult if you have a difficult name to spell. Take my surname Pountney for example, so many people either spell it wrong or don’t even attempt to and move on rather than get it wrong. You want to remain both memorable but also accessible. If you have made up a word, it may be hard for the audience to remember. You want to choose a word that is easy to remember and back this up with strong branding and marketing so people associate the word with your business.

6. Make a statement

Keep in mind that all business names don’t need to be just one or two words, you can make a statement or choose a phrase. A popular example of this would be ‘I can’t believe it’s not butter’. It is a statement that makes it clear to the audience what the product is, as well as creating a story about the product.

7. Do your research

You will want to check with Companies House, domain names, social media handles, search engines, and trademarks to see if your business name is already taken.

8. Stay flexible

If you have chosen your business name but the social media handles and domain names are taken, don’t be put off. You could be creative by adding a letter, take a letter off or add another word.

Some examples of this could be if you wanted to use livunibusiness as my domain name and handle but it was taken. You could try handles like @UoLbusiness @thereallivunibusiness @thisislivunibusiness.

9. Look for inspiration

Not all business names have to have a meaning, you could always just choose a word that has a personal meaning or reminds you of something. Try looking through a dictionary, thesaurus, books, poems, or songs. As a child, I always remembered driving down a road called Jericho Lane and knew I would want to use the name for a song or something one day. Today it is the name of my handmade gift business. Look for the inspiration around you!

10. Seek professional help

If you are genuinely struggling, you could use a naming service. There are lots of freelance copywriters out there and most of them will know how words and business mix. They will be able to help you come up with some ideas to suit your business.