7 things to keep in mind while naming your business!
Setting up your business is not an easy process. It involves a number of steps. One of the basic and essential tasks is naming the business. A business is recognized by its name and the name in turn has the capability of becoming a brand.
If the businessman wants the business to create an impact and perform good, he has to realize that naming the business will be the first step . A plain simple name does not attract attention from the interested parties and sometimes fails to promote the object of the business. Hence, it is very important that the name should be creative and backed by good marketing strategy.
However, name selection is not easy. It can be frustrating and stressful to figure out the right name for your business.
A business name has the capability promoting the agendas of the business. Not only words but symbols, numbers, colours can also be used in the name. A good example of symbol would be Amazon. In the logo of Amazon one can see the arrow going from A to Z in the word Amazon which means that they can provide A-Z goods, which essentially is their agenda. It helps in attracting customers and shareholders too. Many brands were creative in naming their business. Like Mobil uses red and blue colour to show their strength and faithfulness. Sometimes even made up names are good business names.
Your name should convey the expertise, value and uniqueness of the product or service you have developed. It is also important to add mandatory suffixes like “ltd” or “pvt ltd” “inc.” The more your name communicates to consumers about your business, the less effort you must exert to explain it.
There are some (simple) Do’s and Don’ts that you should keep in mind while naming your business
1.Easy to pronounce and remember
A business name should be creative but at the same time, it should be simple and easy to remember. When the customer like the quality of a brand he has the tendency to opt it over others, for this he needs to connect to the name of the company and this indeed would need the customer to be able to pronounce the name of the company and remember it.
Names should be selected based on the behaviour of the society in general. Made up words which only a handful can understand would be a bad business name. It is very important to make sense if you choose a name which has the tendency to confuse majority of the public then that would be a risk for the survival of the company. It is advised that the name should have some connectivity to the product offered. And if the company is a conglomerate then more thought should be put in naming the business as it will be the blanket name for all companies under it. A good example could be of Reliance industries. This blanket name is used for all the companies under the principal company.
2.Keep it simple
A shorter name, maybe a disyllabic that does not contain any special characters has proven to be better names. And sometimes these names have turned into verbs like Gmail me! Skype call! Names like general electronic, general motors’ are simple but they are not backed by creativity. There exists a lot of competition in the motor and having such a dull name would be an unnecessary harm for the business. Nothing does that better than a well constructed name. .
3. Avoid using place/locality/region’s name in the business name.
It is a common error committed by naive businessman, they usually name their business after their cities or regions and when they expand this name acts a hindrance. When customer hears the name of a company and it included a local name then he presumes that the company only functions in that place. A good example of this would be KFC whose previous name was Kentucky Fried Chicken, now it is a global phenomena and having a region’s name would make the firm a regional company in the eyes of general public and also the customers would not be able to connect with the name. To de-emphasize the name was changed to KFC and the rest is history. We can find KFC food joints in every city and people have loved the food.
4.Search for better alternatives
Sometimes due to non availability of desired name, businessmen often try to mend the words in such a way that they get what they planned for. In this process they often change the spellings, change letters in the name. They often sound like German words than business names. It is suggested to avoid the use of “U” in place of you or “K” in place of “Q” or “C”. When such novel names are invented it is essential that they don’t have an intrinsic/linguistic meaning. And these names should be correctly advertised or else these would end up sounding like Italian words for the general public.
5. If wrong, change the name
Once you realize that you got a wrong name then it is only practical to get it changed as soon as possible. Any delay in this procedure would only harm the business.
6. Use of Tag Lines and Logo(s)
It is also important that the name is backed by a good logo and a catchy tag line. Both help in stating the agenda of the business. Often businessmen have chosen their logo from the name and this logo acts as brand identification later. A catchy tagline would always have a permanent impact on the public. These indeed popularize the business and boost brand value.
7. Trade mark the name
Make sure the name is available. It is very important to ensure that the business name is not already in use by any other firm. Such litigation may end up with a huge hole in your pocket. If your business name is capable of getting confused with another business name it is advised to opt for another name as such would create conflict of interest. Often such names have been trouble for working of both businesses. On such would be brand identification, if one business is in computer market and other is in tiles manufacturing then it would essentially defeat the purpose of having a name. It is important that the customers know the difference between both the companies.
The government also provides an opportunity for the businessmen to trademark their business name. It helps protect the goodwill of the company and avoids any misuse . It is always advised to consult a trademark lawyer as trademarking a name is a long term investment and proper due diligence should be taken care of
Finally after the tedious task of choosing name, you’ll have 2-3 names to choose from. And a name which matches your business requirements is to be chosen. A consumer research will yield many benefits for the prosperous business run.
About the Author-
Anusha Mahesh
Anusha is an intern at Lexfluence and a student at Gujarat National law University with an unconditional love for debate. She loves reading novels and her favorite genre is fantasy. In her free time she enjoys playing throw ball and listening to good music.