How To Name Your Business

Carefully considering how to name your business is a smart thing to do. You can either hire a business naming company to name your business, which will cost you about $35,000, or you can do it yourself. The right business name will draw your customers in by the score. Follow the steps below to figure out a winning moniker for your business.

1. Choose a name that is not too broad. By naming a company something like “Wonderful Technology”, your customers won’t know what it is you do. Zero in on what your company does, with something like “Wonderful Computer Repair.”
2. Choose a name that is not too specific. If you get too specific, it will hamper your attempts to expand in the future. For instance, if you call yourself “Wonderful Walla Walla Dell Computer Repair”, what will happen when you expand to other cities and states beyond Walla Walla, Washington?  What will happen when you start fixing a wide variety of computer brands?
3. Make your name easy to remember and spell, but not boring. Choose a name that’s easy to spell so that when they search for you on the web, they can find you. Give your name a unique twist, so it doesn’t get lost in the shuffle.
4. Trust yourself. Don’t settle for a dumb name that you don’t like, just because everybody else likes it. Go with your gut, and follow what you think is the best name for your business.
5. Determine which business structure you will use. Research your state’s laws about how your business structure affects what you are allowed to call your business.
6. Search to find out if your business name is taken already. Search at the state level through your state’s Secretary of State Office. Search at the national level through the US Patent and Trademark Office. The Small Business Administration can help by giving you an overview of naming your business.