Why and How You Should Create a Business Name

As a budding business owner, you’re going to face a lot of tough decisions to ensure the success of your business. However, did you know that the tough choices start even before embarking on your business journey? Yes, choosing the right name for your business can make all the difference between starting on the right foot or starting with a huge handicap.

In this article, we’ll be talking about why business names are so important and how you can make the perfect one for yourself.

1. It’s the First Thing Readers Notice

What’s in a name? At first impression, a name means everything!

Your business name is the first thing your customers will notice about you. They could judge the quality of your products even before looking at your catalog, and while you can certainly turn your nose up and say judging before knowing anything is beneath you, you can’t deny that a restaurant called Sam & Ella’s would have you thinking twice, even if their food is perfectly normal.

2. It Describes Your Business as a Whole

Your moniker should describe your business (including details about you, your products, and your services) in a few words. The fewer words, the catchier and more memorable the business name is!

3. It Helps You Stand Out

In a vast sea of competitors, one of the ways you can stand out is by having a name that’s unique and eye-catching. It helps you secure your spot in the industry and denotes trust and reliability in your brand.

How Can I Establish My Business Name?

Now that we’ve discussed how important a name is to our business, it’s time to come up with one ourselves. As a Los Angeles SEO company, we’ve helped build a lot of businesses from scratch over the years, and generally follow this 5-step simplified task list to come up with a business name:

1. Write Down as Many Words as You Can

The first step to coming up with a name is to brainstorm as many words as you can. Just sit down with some pen and paper and get writing for at least 20 minutes or so or until you’ve got a decently-sized selection of words.

Make sure the words you pick are relevant to your business. After all, you don’t want your customers wondering what you actually do. Also, use a thesaurus for fishing out more words—it can show you more words similar to those you already have.

If that’s not enough already, then perhaps use a name generator too. Name Snack and Wordoid are examples of tools that can help you develop business names.

2. Make a List of Plausible Names

Now that you’ve come up with a whole bunch of words and phrases, it’s time to pick out the ones you’re not too keen on. Ask yourself the following questions:

• Will this name make sense for the business? Does it at least give a hint as to what your business is about?
• Will my customers remember the name? Is it something that’s easily forgettable, or does it flow off the tongue?
• Will my customers spell the name right? Is this something you can spell correctly from the get-go? Are you willing to resign yourself to buying multiple misspelled domain names?
• Does the name look good? Does it at least sound better than a restaurant called A Salt & Battery or a liquor store called Bunghole Liquors?
• Will it fit on your products? Would you be proud to have your business name printed on a shirt?

3. Follow Basic Structures

You can either name your business formally or informally.

In a formal case, you need to determine whether you’re a limited liability company (LLC) or a corporation. The former has basic protection for your personal assets while the latter has stronger ones. Your company should have the following words or abbreviations: LLC (LLC), corporation, company, incorporated or limited (corporation).

With an informal case, you’re claiming sole or joint proprietorship of your business. It will be under your name. You can also apply for a separate business name if you file for a DBA, which stands for ‘doing business as’.

4. Check Availability

Found a bunch of names you like? Perfect! Now you just need to make sure nobody has thought of them before you have.

Head on over to who.is, which is the largest search engine for domain names on the web. Plug in all of your names and see if they’ve been taken.

Now, if you’re really dead set on your name but were disappointed to find out it’s been taken, it’s not the end of the world—you can always just use a different domain name but keep the business name, granted that it hasn’t been trademarked by the US Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS). This is a search engine that keeps track of business names that have been trademarked and unusable by anybody else.

5. Register Your Business Name

Congratulations, you’ve reached the final stage of creating your business name! Start by getting everything together done at the state level by filing Articles of Incorporation with state authorities. If you wish to trademark your business, you’re going to have to file a claim with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Once that’s been covered, it’s time to cover your bases online. Hop on domain registrars like GoDaddy and purchase your preferred domain name and any other similar-looking ones to prevent unwanted competitors from buying them.

Conclusion

Think of your business like you would your child. You want to make sure you bestow a name that suits their personality, helping them stand out but not so much that they get picked on by the mean kids in school. Take note of what you envision your business to be and try to put it into words, and then you’ll have the perfect business name.