5 Tips for Naming Your Startup or Small Business
The success of any company begins with a good name. Even the best business idea can fail if the company name is not distinctive, memorable and coherent. Also, the name chosen must also address the desired customer group and, ideally, allow conclusions to be drawn about the company’s purpose.
With all these requirements, it is clear that founders often do not know how to find the ideal company name. But is it really that difficult to find a new name? Which tools can help you find a name? Are there ways to test the success of a company name in advance? We’ll clarify that below.
What distinguishes a good company name?
A good company name is always unique, easy to pronounce and harmonizes with the habits of the desired target group. In the best-case scenario, the name is so short and distinctive that it quickly sticks in customers’ minds and creates associations with the company’s purpose.
Unusual spellings should be avoided as well as acronyms that mean nothing to customers.
Ultimately, of course, the desired name must be available and, if possible, should not refer to specific product lines or locations of the company, as both the range and the branches of the startup can change over the years.
Also Read – Tips for finding the right business ideas
How can founders find the right company name?
When finding a name, you can let your imagination run wild, but you can also rely on the help of service providers or tools. Service providers, in particular, have the advantage that they not only find a suitable company name for your company but also design coherent company logos and abbreviations.
So you can come up with this part of your corporate identity within a concise time. However, the services offered are usually associated with high costs and for many founders, especially in the initial phase, simply not feasible.
However, you can easily find a suitable company name yourself. There are a variety of name generators on the Internet, which create new and similar word combinations from a few keywords, such as the company name generator or the startup company name generator. Wordoid can also be helpful to get started, where either completely invented words are created in several languages , or letter combinations are appended based on a keyword.
The number of letters can be selected. The functions described are free of charge, but there are additional offers that are subject to a charge (e.g. reservation of a domain).
Even if the results usually cannot be adopted directly, they still offer you many fresh ideas and can thus give important impulses to find the perfect name.
Finding a company name: five steps to success
Finding a new company name is a creative process, but it can be structured very well and broken down into individual steps. Therefore, we have summarized the five most important steps for you below so that your business idea can establish itself quickly and profitably on the market thanks to the perfect company name.
Step 1: Define the company’s purpose and the ideal customer
A good company name always allows conclusions to be drawn about the company’s purpose and also appeals to the desired target group. It is therefore important that you think carefully in advance about the purpose of your company, why it exists and what your unique selling point is.
Also, a precise definition of your ideal clientele can also help you to find an excellent name for your startup. During this process, it is helpful to simply write down the customer characteristics on a piece of paper.
In addition to demographic characteristics such as age, income or place of residence, personal characteristics are also important. For example, do your ideal customers like to try out new things, are they sporty, spontaneous, adventurous or more cost-conscious and conservative?
Step 2: Data analysis
After you have outlined your company’s purpose and your ideal customers, you can analyze the existing data and think about the feelings you arouse with it.
It makes a difference whether the company is supposed to address a professional and serious target group or whether customers are more likely to expect a modern and hip name.
All in all, the package of corporate purpose, company name and target group must always be consistent, so that entry into the desired target market is a complete success.
Step 3: Brainstorm
Finding the right name can often be frustrating because favoured ideas can fall completely off the table in the refinement process. In this context, brainstorming can help to quickly generate new ideas and thus provide important impulses. .
The brainstorming works better in a team so that you can best conduct a session with your colleagues or friends. All ideas are allowed for a predefined period of time, and any kind of criticism is prohibited during the brainstorming session.
Step 4: Creation of a shortlist
After the brainstorming session, you can evaluate the results and get direct feedback on the various suggestions. Then the list of names must be prepared so that only the most promising names are on the list. These can then be evaluated and rated. Some possible evaluation criteria are, for example:
- Is the name easy to write and pronounce?
- Does the name harmonize with the corporate purpose and the target group?
- Is the name still available, or does it infringe existing trademark rights?
- Can the name also be used in other countries?
All those names that correlate with the evaluation criteria should be shortlisted. Then you can either decide on a name immediately or, if you are unsure, obtain further feedback.
Step 5: Validation
Once your new and unique company name has been determined, it must be tested on the market. On the one hand, it’s about how you feel about the name and, on the other hand, about the feelings, the name triggers in the desired target group.
A short survey within the community or personal interviews can help you to gain trust in the name or even lead you to adapt the name again.
Helpful tips about finding a name
Before you decide on a name, you have to check that the name could not lead to trademark infringements and that the name complies with the legal requirements. A registered company must always have the respective legal form in the company name.
In the case of partnerships, such as a general partnership, at least the surname of the owner must be part of the company name. Finally, it is also worthwhile to have the company name registered as a protected trademark with Trademark Office.
Conclusion
Finding a good company name is one of the most exciting tasks and is also one of the most important milestones in the startup phase. It is not that difficult to fix a distinctive and memorable name, provided you keep a few things in mind.
Use your creativity or be inspired by your customers or business partners. The possibilities are almost endless, and if you start the name search with fun and enthusiasm, you may be amazed at the great ideas and ideas that arise within a very short time.
