What’s in a name?

How do you choose the name of your new and soon to be very successful business?

Naming your business isn’t always as easy as you might first think.

When selecting a name is is usually best to try to make the name short, easy to remember, descriptive of the business, and capable of drawing attention. A name that flows and has that “ring” to it can be helpful to attracting new customers.

When choosing a name for your new company, Entrepreneur.com says to keep these tips in mind to help you find one that will work now-and in the future.

One tip that I think is most important is making your business name easy to spell. I run into this with my marketing clients and wonder how customers find their website when it is 25 characters long and spelled in a peculiar way.

This is common when a partnership names the business from each partners name and end up with jonstenandmeisterhoffnergroup.com You end up with a hodge podge of a business name that even Google won’t find.  A partnership is presumed to be operating under the name of its partners, but if your names are very long, use an unusal spelling or are just difficult to spell you may want to look at other options for your business name.

A partnership can operate under a different name with a fictitious owner affidavit required. A fictitious owner affidavit is usually filed at the county recorder’s’ office but may have to be filed with the secretary of state’s office. A fictitious owner affidavit informs the government and the public that the business is operating under an assumed name and indicates who the owner is. This may be a way to get around a hard to spell – hard to find name.

I have also seen business’ choose a name that is on the raunchy side or a name that is sexual or derogatory.  A name can work well with one crowd, but then limits them with dealing with other possible clientele.  It is important to know your audience, and to know where your money is going to come from. It may also be hard to pull off a raunchy name for the long term.

A San Francisco naming boutique Eat My Words, which has worked for Kinko’s, Jamba Juice and other household names. It’s called the Smile & Scratch Test.

To test out a company’s name, first ask if it possesses these qualities:

Simple – one easy-to-understand concept
Meaningful – customer instantly “get it”
Imagery – visually evocative, creates a mental picture
Legs – carries the brand, lends itself to wordplay
Emotional – empowers, entertains, engages, enlightens

Then scratch the name if it’s got these deal-breakers:

Spelling-challenged – you have to tell people how to spell it
Copycat – similar to competitor’s names
Random – disconnected from the brand
Annoying – hidden meaning, forced
Tame – flat, uninspired, boring, nonemotional
Curse of knowledge – only insiders get it
Hard-to-pronounce – not obvious, relies on punctuation

The Small Business Administration offers this advice when naming your business:

There is more to naming your business than just coming up with something that sounds good and you happen to like. Thought must be given to state and local requirements and making sure you don’t infringe upon the rights of someone else’s business name.

Legal Requirements And Implications
Picking a name for your business requires much more than just creativity and a working knowledge of your target market. First you’ll need to decide which business structure you will use, since each structure has its own peculiarities. For example, many states require a sole proprietor to use their own name for the business name unless they formally file another name as a trade name, or fictitious name. Read more about How Business Structure Affects Business Names.

Similarly, you will need to determine whether your trade name will be the same as the full legal name of your business. Of equal importance is finding out whether your name or a very similar name is being used by another business, and if so, what rights they may or may not have to use the name in the area where you do business. Keep in mind that some businesses only file trademarks within their locality, so it’s possible that the same name can be used elsewhere. Here’s some information on Trademark FAQs.

Search And Registration
Trade names can be registered through state Secretary of State offices, and for wider marketplace protection, through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO Trademark Search). Businesses should first use the USPTO’s online system to search all state and federal trademark registers to see if their proposed name is being used.

Domain Names
For many businesses that operate on the Web, trade names are synonymous with domain names, such as Amazon.com and Monster.com. Domain names are not registered through state or local government; rather they can be obtained through numerous online businesses, most of which will allow you to conduct a name search prior to purchase to make sure your chosen name isn’t taken.

Torie
You name it!