Choosing A Name For Your Business

Other than the sheer joy of successfully launching a business and reaping the myriad fruits of one’s labor, I would have to say that there is probably no aspect of starting or thinking about starting a business for me that I enjoy more than choosing or selecting the perfect name for the said business enterprise. In fact, my love of language and words has created an affinity in me for the alluring and sexy world of developing and creating names and business brands. Indeed, establishing a brand identity is my favorite part of any venture because I cannot express how much I love creating new monikers and other types of corporate indicia for myself, and others.

To digress, I believe that I discovered my penchant for naming things or creating new names at the tender, young age of 12. It’s funny when I think about it now, but when I was 12, my final year pre-teendom, I created my very own personal brand although at the time, I had no idea that I was creating a "personal brand" per se; however, I did understand that my chosen brand or identity represented me. At that time, my clandestine brand was "TDH" or "Tall, Dark and Handsome." Yes, this was my dirty little secret—in essence, and in today’s branding nomenclature—well, TDH was my personal brand. The funny thing about my chosen word mark was that I never shared this brand with anyone until college, if then. Even more ironic, is that despite the fact that I had my own personal brand—no one else knew about it. I didn’t advertise the letter combination TDH while in high school or during my college days, rather TDH was just my very own personal brand that I believed in very strongly. Back then, TDH represented certain values that I felt were inherently a part of what I felt that my personal brand was all about. These core values manifested in the way that I presented and carried myself, and interacted with others each and everyday.

In summation, TDH represented my core values: confidence, pride and high standards/self-esteem. As it was very important, to maintain my brand’s identity, and recognition in the marketplace. I had to always behave as a gentleman and good citizen for the most part in an effort to maintain and enhance my personal brand equity, rather than diluting my personal brand through lapses in character and conduct that was not reflective of the TDH brand.
Don’t get me wrong here, I was never narcissistic in introducing the TDH brand into the marketplace. As I previously stated, I didn’t really share the brand with others. Instead, the TDH brand was about confidence, being affable, being kind and compassionate, taking care of oneself to a reasonable degree, and feeling good about oneself—all inner-centered attributes that when combined allowed me to become a good citizen when all was said and done.

Anyway, I know you are probably wondering what does what I’ve written so far have to do with you choosing a name for your company, your brand or product, and to you I say a lot. I chose the TDH brand as an example because it is a fairly simple brand concept to talk about, which is often times contrary to the branding and naming process. As a pre-teen and/or teenager, TDH was a good brand concept for me to attach to myself. However, today, I would most likely choose another name for all of the obvious or not so obvious reasons. So, what I am I trying to say here today if you happen to be reading the words that are coming out of mind? Quite simply, what I am intimating here is that there really is no true science when choosing a name for your business; however, sometimes there is method to the naming madness.

I suppose that if you are in search of that coveted business moniker there are a few things you should consider before choosing a name. When choosing a name you want to take your time so that you get it right. Ideally, the name that you choose should be perfect for your business or company. It should not be name that you are not truly excited about, or that is ambiguous. Instead, it should be name that you are enormously proud to have chosen to represent your business. But, how does one go about choosing a name for one’s business endeavors? The answer is: very carefully--no really, choosing a name is certainly not rocket science, but it also isn’t something you should do without careful thought, research and analysis if necessary. There are primarily three major name categories to consider when one is seeking the perfect corporate nomenclature: personal names, descriptive names or brandable generic names, and pure brandable names or pure brandables for short.

First, I guess that you must decide if your business’ name will be a personal name, like Pete’s Produce, or a descriptive name like Midwest Auto Mechanics or (my personal favorite) a brandable name like Google, Yahoo, Apple, or Lenovo, etc. Personally, I am not a fan of using personal names to serve as the brand identity for a business unless it is the name of a famous person like Michael Jordan or Mike Ditka, both famous Chicago sports icons. However, there is nothing inherently wrong in choosing to go that route as the nice alliterative effect of Pete’s Produce seems easy enough for consumers to remember. However, as an aside, just remember that whatever name you choose—you want it to be one that your clients and/or customers will find easy to remember.

Next, going with a descriptive name like Midwest Auto Mechanics for your auto services business is not a bad idea either. After all, descriptive names tend to be very strong and effective in describing the services provided by the business. Ergo Mdwest Auto Mechanics would be a great name for an auto mechanics business that has multiple locations throughout the Midwest. Otherwise, a name like Chicago Auto Mechanics might prove more effective where the business operates solely in the greater Chicago metropolitan area. Another reason that a descriptive business name may be a good business name choice is because descriptive names tend to lend themselves to making it easier for those in search of an auto mechanic to find your business via the web.

Moreover, the name Chicago Auto Mechanics is a nice generic word combination that is keyword rich. That is to say, when you search for the company of the same name, the strong keywords: "Chicago," "Auto," and "Mechanics" are sure to be heavily searched for terms in search engines like Google. Therefore, it will be easier for those searching for auto mechanic services to locate your website because Chicago Auto Mechanics is also a great type-in keyword combination. Many internet and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) mavens are very high on such generic, descriptive, type-in, keyword rich combinations that are chosen as business names.

Finally, choosing a brandable business name is also a good choice even though some critics of this branding approach criticize brandable name selections for the opposite reasons that they bestow virtue upon descriptive names. Typically, brandable names require lots of work to create buzz and recognition for the brand in the marketplace. Unlike pure generic names or generic brandables, pure brandables do not readily identify the products or services that the brand represents without more. The more being some type of additional descriptor or tag line that connects the product to the brand in the mind of the consumer. Indeed, this is at times a lot more work; however, the rewards for creating a super-strong pure brandable can seem almost infinite at times.

In addition to this, pure brandable names in some circles are also viewed as not being easy to find on the world wide web and sometimes not easy to remember. However, before I go any further, I must make the distinction between brandable generic names versus pure brandable names. A brandable generic name is a name like cars, trucks, computers, diamonds and money, get my drift. There is nothing that one has to do to enhance the searchability of either of the aforementioned names, or for other similarly situated names. Simply type either of the names listed above into your favorite search engine, and hit your return key, and your search is sure to reveal millions of entries for the same products/services. While on the other hand, pure brandable names, will normally require additional marketing, advertising and often times public relations campaigns in order to effectively create brand awareness in the marketplace. Nevertheless, as I’ve said at least two other times in this post, I love pure brandable names. I think that pure brandable names are great, and represent the essence of what a true corporate brand identity should be: a recognizable, and memorable business designation that burns an indelible mark in the minds of your customers and potential customers. Over the years, hundreds if not thousands of corporate entities have successfully built brand awareness around their corporate brands. Here is a very short list of such companies: IBM, BMW, HP, Lexus, Nissan, Kellogg, Nokia, Apple, Motorola and a host of others.

So, what does this all mean in the final analysis? Simply put, there really is no right or wrong answer when choosing a name for your firm or business, and that people choose certain business names for different reasons that are oftentimes based on personal choice and preference. Other times, the name is selected based on how well the name describes the product or service that the business will sell in the marketplace. Choosing a business name is very important, and should not be taken lightly or for granted because your selection of a business name or brand identity should not cause confusion in the marketplace, but rather it should lead potential customers to your website or business address. In other words, your business should not be called Steve’s Sportsworld if all you sell is ski equipment. Instead it should be called Steve’s Skiworld. Similarly, maybe it is not a good idea to call your business Onomatopoeia or Deoxyribonucleic Acid because after all how many of your potential customers will remember how to spell those names; similar to other business concerns you should also bless your business name with a KISS--KEEP IT SHORT and SWEET, in most cases.

In closing, when all is said and done, your goal in branding your business should be one in which you choose a business name that customers will find memorable, vibrant, exciting, pronounceable and words that they can easily spell.