Choosing a name for your business is a big decision. Your business name will stay with you for many years. As the heart of your brand, it connects consumers to your business and should evoke positive emotions. The problem for most small business owners is finding a name that is creative, meaningful, not already trademarked, and available as a website domain name. Below are three steps that you can follow to develop a business name with lasting value:
Your naming process should begin by writing down everything that you can think of based on the following thought-provoking questions:
Be sure to ask friends, family, and employees to join your brainstorming sessions and bring new ideas to the table. Use the ideas from these brainstorming sessions to create a list of potential business names.
Review the potential business names you created during your brainstorming sessions and narrow down your list to between 5 and 10 choices. Once you have your shortlist, ask yourself the following questions about each potential business name. If you can’t answer “yes” to any of these questions for a specific name, remove it from the list.
Show your final list of potential business names to as many prospective customers and target audience members as you can. These are the people who will buy your products or services, so you need to go directly to the source and get their feedback. Remember, initial reactions are typically the most honest, so don’t give them the time to overthink the name. Based on the feedback you receive, make any changes to your name that might be necessary.
After completing these three steps, you should be able to finalize your business name or understand that you need to go back to the drawing board and start again. The next step is getting a professional logo design for your company. Try using our DIY logo maker to start creating your own brand!