Are you naming a business or labeling a box

Are you naming a business or labeling a box

You're excited. You have developed a new business plan and even found the perfect store location. With your grand opening only 3 days away, you now began to eagerly search for a company name only to be met with a frustrating of plans. Now after two long days of name concepting, you and your business partners still haven't found/agreed/decided upon a company name.

Realizing that you're now facing a fast-approaching deadline, you hastely decide to simplify a largely bureaucratic and frustrating process by randomly picking a name from a long-list of words and slapping it on a letterhead to have a name for your business.


 
In a similar manner, following such a course today is comparable to 'packaging goods' (business plan) & 'labeling a box' (company name). A process that only yields a generic, boring name that is left center of your company's pivot point.

So how can you effectively name your business? There are three essential steps to follow in naming a business.

Define Your Business Strategy

Besides avoiding last minute panic, going through the naming process early before building a brick and mortar business will help you to clearly define your true business strategy.

By asking the all-important questions, "What makes us different?" or "Why should a customer buy from us?" you will gain a better sense of what you plan to offer your customers. At first, defining your business strategy may start off as a thesis statement, but will soon take shape as a focused name concept.

Remember, by clearly defining & understanding 'who you are' and 'what you do', a better aligned business would be the result. And having a better aligned business means more customers.

Appoint a name decision group

Probably one of the most common mistakes business owners make is having too many people involved in the decision-making process (name by committee). The results are usually a choosing a 'safe name' that is predictable and ordinary in nature. When choosing your name decision group, try to choose 3-4 individuals that are enthusiastic and creative thinkers. Be sure to avoid stiff-necked Joe who thinks that naming your business after a fruit (Apple) is fruity or naming your business (Google) is goofey.

Choose the best company name

After concepting a list of names, try to create a short-list of three to six name candidates that best fit your business model. Test each name as to fitness by developing unique tag-lines to compliment the name. And instead of simply evaluating the name for how it looks, or sounds, also evaluate it's potential for future marketing initiatives. A good example is a parental control software company that we named Adult-Aware. The tag line "Trusted. Aware. Internet Protection" added further support and the marketing platform utilized parental terminology.
 

• "Aware Internet Security Software"
• "Monitor. Block. Protect. Against Adult Content"
   

So instead of having a static name, Adult-Aware now had a dynamic brand that came with its own marketing lexicon. Learn more about catchy names at Lexis Brand Marketing.