Andrea Shillington: Founder and owner, Brands for the People
Choosing a name for your business can be quite frustrating. Everyone has a different opinion, and it's particularly challenging when there is more than one decision-maker involved. I'd like to outline a simple process to make this easier for you so that you can choose a business name that both reflects the reputation you want to build and is search-engine-friendly.
First, get clear about your brand early on. New businesses often skip this step, and it leads to costly rebranding. I recommend writing out your brand strategy, which includes your purpose, vision, values, positioning and tagline. If you'd like step-by-step instructions on how to do this, check out these free branding tools: www.brandsforthepeople.com/branding-tools.
Secondly, you will need to brainstorm an extensive list of names. Record everything; there are no bad ideas at this stage. In this online world, many of the descriptive names like British Airways have already been taken, so I'd recommend considering names that are out of the box like Yahoo or invented words like Facebook. You can usually find an available URL for these types of names, and they have the added benefit of standing out from the competition.
Don't pressure yourself to say everything about your business in the name. You will have a tagline and other key messages that will help you communicate what your business does and why it's different. It's also a good idea to do some online research to see how many relevant searches show up for your potential business name. You especially want to avoid any competitors in your field with similar names or URLs.
Finally, before going to market, ask your lawyer to do a trademark search. Building a famous brand is a journey of courageous authenticity. Names aren't born famous; they are made famous.
