Your name is your identity. One of the most important decisions your parents ever made was your name. It may seem trivial, and yet that one decision has impacted you since the day you were born. The same is true with a business. A business name will impact how people view it. The perfect name will draw them in while a poorly selected name may push them away. There’s so much more to a name than just a word. Your business name will be connected with logos, and it will be used in all of your marketing efforts. So how do you go about choosing the perfect business name?
Here are some tips and suggestions for coming up with boutique name ideas, regardless of if your business is all online, or it is brick and mortar.
Inform Your Customers.
Let your customers know exactly what you offer right in the name. This way, when someone drives past your store or sees the business name they aren’t instantly wondering what in the world you do. By addressing a particular problem right in the name of our company you will cut out the work customers need to do. It could be anything as simple as your name followed by what you do. Ryan Plumbing might not be jazzy or snappy, but it instantly tells customers what service you provide.
Easy To Remember.
Maybe you want to go with something that’s snappy and easy to remember. When this is the case go with a one-word name. It’s pretty easy to remember brands like Nike or Rolex. One word, that’s it. Perhaps the logo you used to go along with it will help point out what it is you do. You will also want to come up with a number of brand names and then discuss with people whose opinions you trust. They can tell you whether it works or whether it comes off as awkward.
Look Up Available Business Names.
Before you start pumping money into logos, branding, and marketing, you need to know if the business name you’ve decided on is even available. Many businesses have run into this problem. By marketing a business name that already exists, it opens you up to two major problems. The first is the current copyright holder to the business name can ask you to stop using the name. As they hold the copyright to the name there isn’t much you can do other than do what they say. That can represent a major financial hit for your company, and right as it’s starting up. That also means you’ll need to change the name, which might confuse customers as well. The second issue is the copyright holder might skip the “asking nicely” part of the equation and move right into suing you. In this instance perhaps all the judge will make you do is stop using the brand name, or you might be forced to pay restitution fees to the copyright holder (not to mention lawyer and filing fees). Again, this is an expensive mistake. The best way to find out if copyright is available is to go to the U.S. Small Business Administration website (sba.gov) and perform a search. Should you find it is available in your state you can file a copyright claim with the state. Once it’s approved then you can go ahead with the branding of your company.
As you might expect, this should be one of the first things you do. It can take several weeks if not several months to receive the copyright, so do this early on in the creation of your business.
Finding The Perfect Business Name.
Ultimately, you will make the final decision as to what business name you will go with. The success or failure of your company will come down to a number of variables, with your business name being one of these elements that will help dictate how well your company does. By talking it over with friends and family, getting the opinions of others, looking over what other business names are already taken, and going with what feels right for you, you’ll end up with the perfect business name that you can proudly stand behind.
