7 tips to naming your start up
October 22, 2024
Naming your start-up is one of the most exciting parts of that early journey. By avoiding letting the pressure to “get it right” ruin the experience, following a process to get it as right and representative as you feel it can be; you may even discover a side of your brand you hadn’t before considered.
While a name won’t make your business a success, naming it poorly can have negative effects, particularly if you haven’t conducted due diligence on its legality. Changing it later is a possibility – one that could prove expensive and detrimental to your recognised brand, proving it worthwhile to put this groundwork in place before you jump in.
Do your research
A lot of our advice revolves around research and planning, and there’s a reason for that. While gut feelings and urgency often play a part in the initial stages of starting a business, the potential of (expensive) regret is high.
Whether it’s extreme cases like being sued, or simply needing a new logo – every penny and minute wasted could be spent somewhere more valuable.
Conduct some market research
What are your competitors named? While being inspired by your competitors is not illegal, steering your name too close to a competitor – or any other brand for that matter – may land you in court and likely force you to change it.
What is your target audience saying about your service / product / industry? Knowing the words and terms audience is using, whether they are currently your clients or not, will not only build your understanding of your market but also give you ways in which to appeal directly to them.
What are the keywords in both your industry and your brand / values? You will likely have words and phrases you use regularly when talking about your offering, and there are likely many more which you can find with a simple Google search. Write down what is important in your business, as well as tapping into what experts in your field are saying, to grow your list of words.
Consider using a thesaurus to identify potential alternatives with the same meaning.
Consider your name
Using the owner’s name has long been an attractive method of naming a business. It’s a classic, personal choice adopted by many big-name brands, including Dyson and Disney.
There are pitfalls, however. Using your name places the emphasis on you as the brand face for the entirety of the life of that name; that’s big pressure and can also narrow your potential for growth or product diversity.
If you love the idea of using your name, consider all variations of it to add to your list. Initials, abbreviations, compounds of your name and offering, meanings behind the words, any history to your family name; add them all to your list.
Things to avoid
Once you have your list, filter out the following:
- Existing company names or trademarks; it goes without saying, do not name your business after or similar to another business, especially if they’re a giant – there’s no David and Goliath here.
- Anything too long or too hard to spell; make it easy for everyone by avoiding a name they may struggle with.
- Words that may be inappropriate on their own or have inappropriate alternative meanings.
- Extremely common words that would prove difficult to stand out or find from an SEO or web domain perspective.
Things to consider
Once you have a shortlist, consider whether they may work better as:
- Compound names; such as Net (short for internet) and flix (short for flicks, aka movies).
- Abbreviations or acronyms; ideal for shortening longer names, such as DCI Alumni Low Carbon Materials (LCM).
- Translated into foreign languages or Latin; such as Sony or Verizon.
- Made up or alternative spelling versions; such as Kodak or Lyft.
Ask yourself if your contenders are memorable, representative of your brand, and generally sound good, making any tweaks to improve them.
Test your shortlist
How do you test a name, we hear you ask?
First, try making a mockup with your website, branding, stationery etc. Does it fit, look good or just not work?
Testing it with your target audience provides fantastic insight into how your business can be perceived by the very people you want to buy from you. This could be through surveys, focus groups or subcontracting to an agency to do this for you. Your friends, family and network are an easier, but less specific option.
Use the feedback to tweak your shortlist.
Use a generator
From our (albeit brief) testing, we can’t with a straight face recommend using an AI generator to create your business name. The two we sampled simply added adjectives to the beginning of our key words – some of them sounding rather more sinister than we’d be comfortable with! We’re confident you can create your business name without a generator.