How To Come Up with A Business Name

How do I come up with a catchy business name?

To come up with a catchy business name, start by brainstorming words, concepts, or phrases with your family and friends. A simple business name is memorable and easy for people to remember. Consider these factors to come up with a catchy business name:

• Personalize your business name
• Try alliteration: business names that contain words that begin with the same sound or letter. For example, Krispy Kreme, Circuit City, Range Rover, PayPal
• Use acronyms: For example, International Business Machine is IBM.
• Business name with words that rhyme: Example: Grub Hub, Hobby Lobby, and 7-Eleven.
• Personify the business service or products. For example, In-N-Out Burger personifies the restaurant’s drive-in and out.

You should test the business name’s pronunciation so that it does not have unintended pronunciation. Ultimately, come up with a catchy business name that captures attention and sparks interest while being memorable. In this article, our Los Angeles small business attorney for business startup discusses tips for coming up with a business name.

1) Let the Process Evolve

When coming up with a business name, allow the process to evolve organically, embracing creative iterations and refinements to capture the essence of your brand. We know: you just want to get through the business-name process so you can start actually running your business. After all: you’ve been waiting for this moment! One thing we have learned, however, is not to rush in arriving at the appropriate title for your new venture. Remember, it will be possible to change your Name later through the use of a DMA or a name amendment.

• Brand Power

Coming up with a business name that holds brand power requires strategic creativity, aligning the name with the brand’s vision to resonate deeply with the audience and leave a lasting impression. At the same time, you are not only establishing a name but a brand. If you need to rebrand, and if your customers have already responded positively to your brand, this can be a difficult switch to make. Your name is an integral element of the logo, marketing documents, and domain. This is why it is essential to slow down, take your time, and choose wisely. There is nothing worse than finishing the name process with a title that neither you nor your employees are proud of.

Tip: We see a lot of businesses embracing names that have strange spellings or are difficult to understand. Remember the idea of clarity. A good name should be interesting but not challenging; so-called “creative” spellings can confuse customers and lead to misspellings and mistakes. No one will know your brand if they can’t pronounce the words, either!

You have pushed yourself as far as you can go to get this new company off the ground, do not stop striving when faced with your important name decision.

2) Have a High-Level Understanding of your Company

Developing a business name with a deep understanding of the company involves encapsulating its essence and values within a succinct and impactful name that resonates authentically with the audience. What is the significance of a business name? Most successful entrepreneurs say that the importance of a company’s Name is often underestimated. Your Company’s Name is often the first element that your customers will encounter, and you want their reaction to be positive. You also want your Name to convey a few fundamental aspects of your business. A good name can convey your company’s target audience, vision for the future, overall mission, and values.

• Return to the Plan

If you are not sure of some of these aspects yet, you might want to return to your business plan and make sure your business has a clearly outlined purpose and audience. Looking back through your plans and perfecting the small details can often lead you to a great name for your business. As you brainstorm, think about the brand you are in the process of developing. What is a name that is exciting but also clearly tells the public what your business is all about? What image are you going for, and how does your new Name fit into the industry you want to break into?

3) Strive for Simplicity in your Business Name

Come up with a business name that emphasizes simplicity involves distilling the brand’s essence into a concise yet impactful name that is easy to remember and instantly resonates with customers.Many of the business names we find memorable share the same qualities. They are not too complex, but also not too simple. A good name includes full words instead of initials and acronyms and is not so long that it cannot be remembered or so short that we are not sure what it means.

• Abbreviations

While we do not recommend using an acronym for your actual Name, it is wise to consider how the words in your Name will be abbreviated. Acronyms are easy to commit to memory and communicate, and if you do not think about how the words you use can be shortened and combined, you might accidentally find yourself with a distasteful or inappropriate acronym.

• Pronunciation

Ensure you test the pronunciation when coming up with a business name. Focus on pronunciation: is your Name relatively simple to pronounce? Studies have shown that stock market performance is linked to easy business name pronunciation. You might even think about the definitions of the words you are using and how your new Name sounds when pronounced in other languages.

• The Test of Time

Come up with business name that withstands the test of time; a blend of timeless relevance and forward-thinking. Some names could prove limiting in the future as your company expands. If your Name is too specific or liable to become dated, you might regret it further down the line. When Jeff Bezos chose “Amazon” over “Web Books,” perhaps he had one eye on future expansion. A name that is linked to a specific product or a particular city can quickly become constraining.