Importance of a Business Name
Choosing a business name can be compared to choosing a child's. By the way, did you know the child naming affair started way back in the 1st century? If you are a Christian, it started on creation when God created the first man and called him Adam.
When a couple gets pregnant, the next big task is choosing a name for the child, right? Some parents don’t like involving themselves in this hard and complicated affair. Instead, they opt to name the child after famous people like presidents, artists, their childhood friends, or maybe a beautiful name they have come across along the way.
Others follow naturals events, for example, a child born at night might be called Chausiku. Whereas some parents don’t plan for the child naming at all, they believe to see the baby first and use the place where the child is born to pick a name, If Jesus was born in such a family He would be called Bull, like John Bull. It’s believed in china when a child is born, they fall a metal like an object and the child is named after the sound it produces.
Things To Consider When Choosing A Business Name
1. Simplicity of the Business Name
When you are planning to start a business what is the first thing that comes to your mind? I know you’ll say what you are selling, the location, the size, the number of employees you’ll hire, and then the name. You are very right but the name is more important.
Would people know you if you didn’t have a name?
See, a name is equally important when it comes to business. The easier it is to pronounce the better, the easier it is to remember and you are in for a great start. I want you to think of all the business names you know right this moment, and figure out what they all have in common.
They are simple to Pronounce, easier to remember, you can also notice you didn’t have to remember the whole name of the company or business, You’ve remembered the first name. That’s because the naming of the business or company isn’t so different from naming a child. We would all be crazy if we call your three names every time we meet, isn't it?
The easier the name you give to your child, the easier it will be for people to remember. Same as a business. There are celebrities we know who change their names when they start their career. They don’t just change the names; they know if they go with their original name it won’t be the same.
2. Name Flexibility
Another most important thing when choosing a brand name is making sure the name you choose does not limit your business progress.
Let me explain.
Imagine you start a clothing store today, and you name it clothing store of New York, and somewhere along the way you decide to include some electronic equipment in the business, will the name be helping the business?
For example, what do you think would have happened if Jeff Bezos decided to name his business "Online Bookstore" instead of Amazon? You see what I mean. So, pick a catchy name that will be easier for people to remember.
3. Consider the Domain Name
It’s also good to consider the domain you will use for your business website. Let me show you why it’s important to use the exact name of your business on your domain; When your client or target client goes online to search for your services or website, there is a high probability they’ll use your business name. For example, if your business is Chevron logistic limited and your domain name is reliabledelivery.com, It will be so difficult for people to find you compared to using chevronlogistic.com or chevron.com.
Note, I’ve preferred chevronlogistic.com over chevron.com, this is because putting the name logistic on your domain will help in ranking your business on search engines. By this I mean your website is likely to appear at the top, in searches, when people who are looking for logistic services but they don’t know you exist search for the word logistic, but that a story for another day.
4. Look for Professional Assistance
I know some people are not good with names, and I know you may be one of those guys. It’s not a sin to look for professional assistance when you are trying to come up with your business name. The advantage of using a professional is that you will get it right for the first time. They also have experience and expertise to make sure they look at all the angles that you may miss when you do it alone.
If you don’t have money to hire an expert, you can ask your friends and family members for their opinion. When doing this, instead of giving them one name, give them a list of four names and let them choose the one that sounds sweet to them. Show the list to several friends and pick the name that most of them will choose. Remember they don’t have to pick the name that you think is right, you can repeat the process until you get the name that you’re happy and content with before you start the registration process.
5. Verify the Availability of your Business Name
The last thing to do and equally important is making sure the name you choose is not being used by another person. Visit the government agency and do a name search with the registrar of the company in your country. This is a process that normally takes less than a day and you need to pay a small fee.
If the name is available,
Wola! You are ready to go. Make sure you register the name as soon as possible as your trademark, small delays can make you lose the name since when another person searches the name before you register, it will still show as available and if they register before you, then have to start the process again.
So next time you want to start a business you don’t have to join your wife’s first name with your name. I am not saying it’s bad, but if it is complicating the readability and simplicity of it just do away with it. Find a simple English name or any other simple business name and it will serve that purpose.