Business names have become synonymous with success. They help you stand out from the crowd and can even inspire a sense of community around your brand. But how do you find the perfect name for your business? Forbes reports, “17 million people will ‘make the leap’ to start a new business in 2022”. It’s a jungle out there, so the more unique and memorable your brand name is, the easier it will be to market and sell your goods, and gain recognition.
Over 30,000 satisfied customers have used our service to choose names for their businesses. We’ve outlined four steps in this article to help you find the perfect business name.
1. Bring Your Business to Life
The first step is to visualize your business, it is a good idea to ask yourself these questions. How do you envision it? How would you like it to sound? How do you want a customer to feel when interacting with your brand?
During your research, pay attention to your competitors’ services, branding, and marketing strategies to help you determine what will and won’t work for your target audience. This will also guide you in communicating your message to them.
2. Select A Compelling Tone
One great way to select a compelling tone for your brand is to think about what type of experience you want your customers to have. Are you looking to empower your customers? Do you want them to feel confident repping your brand? A strong tone can help convey those emotions and keep people engaged in your brand, no matter how they interact with it.
Do a lot of research, and find out what specific characteristics your business must display to attract potential customers. This will give you a better sense of what the most appropriate tone for your company can be, let’s take a look at some:
- Amiable and inviting
- Prestigious
- Fun and Playful
3. Identify Your Brand’s Elements
Determine what makes your brand unique. You can see below some elements that could differentiate your brand from others:
● Big ideas: What are your company’s vision and mission?
● Values: What are the company’s values?
● Benefits: How can your clients benefit from your services?
● Emotions: Which emotions do you hope to inspire in your customers?
● Value proposition: What makes your company unique?
4. Create a Naming Criteria for Your Company and Get to Brainstorming!
When you’re trying to come up with a name, it’s important to have an idea of what kind of brand image you want to portray. Let’s say that you are launching a startup that aims to help consumers save money on home improvements, then you might want your brand name to sound friendly and trustworthy (e.g., “The Home Improvement Club”). Perhaps you are building an online store that sells high-quality furniture from around the world, then you might want to settle on a more sophisticated-sounding name (e.g., “Furniture by Design”).
After you have determined the kind of company image you wish to portray and come up with a few ideas for names, a brainstorming session is in order. You can use dictionaries, yellow pages, and Google as sources of information.
Keep in mind to make a list of short, compelling, catchy, memorable, and symbolic words, during your search. This list should correspond with the image of your brand. And if you are still having difficulty, a business name generator is always a great start.
Grant Polachek is the head of branding for Squadhelp.com, 3X Inc 5000 startup and disruptive naming agency. Squadhelp has reviewed more than 1 million names and curated a collection of the best available names on the web today. We are also the world’s leading crowdsource naming platform, supporting clients such as Nestle, Dell, Nuskin, and AutoNation.