10 Suggestions For Startups And Small Companies On Naming Your Company

Submitted by: Lawrencevl Merrillast

Naming your organization might be challenging and time consuming. In the event you need assistance or just don’t have the time (it took us practically 50 hours to call “crowdSPRING”), you possibly can leverage crowdSPRING’s group of greater than 64,000 designers and writers to come up with your organization title or a product name.

Whether you leverage crowdSPRING’s group to assist name your startup or small business or discover a title on your own, you may discover the following 10 ideas helpful:

1. Think about what you need your company identify to convey.

Your company identify is a crucial a part of your company’s identity. The title will appear on your online business cards, letterhead, website, promotional materials, products, and just about everywhere in print to identify your company or your company’s merchandise and/or services.

Service oriented companies should think about whether or not it will be straightforward for his or her prospective customers to acknowledge what companies the enterprise provides, based mostly on the title of the company (example: Pleasant Canine Walkers or Shiny Accounting).

Companies positioned in rural areas and serving rural communities could need to undertaking a smaller, hometown feel with their name. Nevertheless, businesses planning to deal with bigger markets or bigger prospects may need to challenge a larger, more corporate picture with their name.

2. Brainstorm to establish name possibilities.

When you perceive what you need your company identify to convey, it is best to set aside some time to brainstorm. Think about phrases that describe your business or the merchandise/providers you offer. Take into consideration phrases that describe your opponents and words that describe the differences between your services and people of your competitors. Take into account too words that describe the advantages of using your merchandise or services. Finally, take into consideration phrases (and phrases) that evoke the feelings you want your customers to really feel once they see your organization name.

Whereas brainstorming, lookup Greek and Latin translations of your words – you may find new ideas from doing that exercise. Take a look at overseas phrases too (we spent a while with a Swahili dictionary on the lookout for robust names).

Expect this course of to take some time (it took us about forty+ hours to brainstorm after which one other 10 to finalize names – we went by MANY attainable names). Don’t overlook to leverage sources, including a dictionary, thesaurus, and some other assets that you simply think might help.

3. Keep the identify brief, simple, and straightforward to write down and remember. Also – take into account acronyms of the name.

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Take into consideration the names of corporations you admire. They sometimes have just a few issues in widespread: their names are brief, simple, straightforward to write down and straightforward to remember. (Examples: Apple, Google, Virgin, Southwest).

Obscure enterprise names are sometimes difficult to write down and even more troublesome to remember. This can be a problem as a result of for many startups and small businesses, word-of-mouth advertising is the most profitable type of marketing. In case your prospects can’t remember your identify or can’t spell it for others, it should make it troublesome for them to help promote your business.

Whereas it may be tempting, keep away from utilizing a “K” rather than a “Q” or a “Ph” instead of an “F” when arising together with your company name. Such letter substitutions makes spelling the title very difficult.

Additionally, don’t overlook to contemplate the acronym of your organization name (an acronym is composed of the primary letter of each phrase in a phrase). You won’t use an acronym, but your clients may consult with your enterprise by an acronym. A reputation reminiscent of Apple Assist Providers can lead to an unfavorable acronym – ASS.

4. Keep away from names which can be too narrow or too literal.

Think about how your organization may evolve over time and ensure that the company identify can evolve with the business. For example, for those who name your organization iPod Accessories and later increase to promote equipment for other products, your original identify will probably be too slender and restrictive.

The same advice applies even if your company sells a niche product. For example, for those who promote antique lamps, it is best to take into account whether or not you might sell more than lamps in the future. Naming your enterprise Joan’s Vintage Lamps could also be too limiting if you later start selling vintage clocks and furniture.

5. Avoid decisions by committee but do “check” your company identify with others.

It’s tempting to contain our buddies, family, staff and prospects find a reputation for our company. Typically, this could work out really well. However there are risks. People could be upset should you don’t decide a name they assume is great. You’ll also end up looking for consensus – which may result in a very plain name. In the event you should contain others, choose a small group of people who understand you and what you are promoting (and decide a mix of right-mind types and left-mind varieties to be able to have some variety.

Once you’ve selected a couple of possible choices, you must share them with a couple of trusted buddies, family and customers to get some suggestions concerning the name.

6. Avoid plain words.

Plain words make it very troublesome to differentiate your organization out of your competitors. For example, there were a whole lot of hundreds of emblem design companies all over the world once we started excited about “crowdSPRING”. We knew that we would be increasing to many alternative industries (graphic design, web design, industrial design, writing, and lots of extra) and so we didn’t need to name our business Nice Emblem Design or manyDesigners – it might have been descriptive, but not memorable and positively not sufficiently unique.

There are exceptions. Basic Electrical is likely one of the most profitable firms on this planet and its name is composed of plain words. However, Normal Electric was one of many first companies in it’s product/service class and was able to get away with a plain name.

7. Watch out with geographic names.

Some folks use their city, state or region as part of their firm name. In case you plan solely to work in your metropolis, then this may serve you well. But a geographic identify might hinder you later. One great instance is Minnesota Manufacturing and Mining. Initially, the identify labored as a result of the enterprise was targeted on Minnesota. But as soon as the company grew past their trade and the state of Minnesota, they wanted to discover a new title – 3M.

8. Keep away from obscure words.

Firm names that help inform tales may be powerful and memorable (take into consideration Google, for example). But obscure phrases or references could be troublesome to spell or pronounce. Be especially sensitive if you happen to’re making an attempt to succeed in a mass viewers (resembling on the Web). Obscure or invented names can work – Xerox is a superb instance – but this typically requires a huge advertising finances and large effort.

9. Avoid trends.

You’ll want your company’s identify to evolve as developments evolve, so be careful to determine the developments and to avoid following them. For example, in the late 1990’s, it was trendy to make use of a .com after your organization title if your organization was an Internet business. After the Web “bubble” burst, the “.com” turned synonymous with having no enterprise model and people corporations who survived in a short time dropped “.com” from their names.

10. Take into account whether you may register a website and acquire a trademark.

It’s essential to be sure that your opponents are usually not using the identical title in your industry. It’s not uncommon to seek out related (or even equivalent names) in several industries, but this may end up in confusion on your prospects and vendors. In case your opponents are utilizing the identical identify – you’ll expose your self to doable litigation and also you’ll doubtless be unable to obtain trademark safety for your firm name.

So, look for a corporation identify that can also be obtainable for registration as a domain (ideally, as a .com area). You must understand that .com domains are very talked-about and also you’ll wrestle to seek out available domains that match your company name. Many individuals obsess throughout this process.

While it’s not an unimportant process, Tate Linden, CEO of Stokefire (a firm that makes a speciality of branding), says that folks typically place an excessive amount of worth on the domain:

The quantity of people that kind in URLs is shrinking every day. Small business house owners still appear to be obsessing over getting the pure URL as MyCompanyName.com, however the bigger organizations have adapted. We’ve completed quite a bit of analysis that indicates the URL is becoming much less important. Nowadays individuals are placing the title into Google to seek out sites. We see this as a terrific thing. The unhappy reality is that the overwhelming majority of names we think about are ‘camped’ by squatters hoping to make a fast buck. Should you don’t have deep pockets or a convincing story to share you’re going to get taken to the cleaners.

Google is a superb tool for getting around this problem-in the event you’ve received a robust brand and also you’re getting hyperlinks from individuals you’ll find yourself as the number one response in your identify even when it isn’t the pure dotcom domain.

Last, there are some promising developments on the horizon. There’s talk of opening up the world to the fitting of the ‘dot’ that might no less than quickly help companies get their own domains. There are also some processes in place where business house owners can go to ICANN and file a complaint based on the fact that their trademarked area name is being held for ransom. I’ve heard some success stories of companies going via the process and winning the area rights from people whose sole intent in proudly owning the websites is to sell them.

You’ll also need to just remember to select an organization identify that you simply’ll be capable of register for trademark/servicemark protection. Trademark rights arise only by means of commerce (resembling when you supply objects on the market and use the trade identify or emblem in your advertising materials or on the products). You aren’t required to register an organization title – you possibly can purchase frequent legislation rights simply by using the identify in commerce.

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About the Author: Designer, 21 years old designer specjalizing in visual corporate identity, branding, webdesign.

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