The Perfect Name For Your Business Is Out There--Here’s How To Find It

Naming your business is a very important part when creating a brand for your startup.

It is typically the primary aspect of your brand that your potential customers will encounter. An effective brand name will summarize who your business is while also intriguing and attracting your target audience.

Stage One: Mission and Vision

Outline your brand

When creating a name for your startup, it is useful to gather all of your ideas in a singular location. Simply make a document that you can check back with all throughout the naming process for your business. Make sure that you incorporate all of the key aspects of your brand. Write down notes on what you do and what your values are. Additionally, take notes on why you believe your products or services are important and useful. Make sure that your audience will feel your passion through your brand name.

Look ahead

Where do you see your brand at in five years? What about the next ten years? If you are planning on creating a company that could grow into new areas in the future, be careful not to select a name that limits you.

Try to summarize your brand’s mission and vision in a few concise project statements like these examples:

• We need a name that alludes to our fun, millennial approach to selling stock.
• We need a name that establishes us as a distinguished, prestigious brand
• We need a name that hints at our animal-friendly business practices

Get started by jotting down a few project statements for your own startup.

Stage Two: Get Creative

Gather some names

Start broad when coming up with names for your startup. Brainstorm business names by writing down a potential example for every type of name on this list. This can help you get a better picture of the exact type of name you’re looking for. The larger amount of names you have written down, the better name you will end up with at the end of the naming process.

Narrow your list

Now that you have created a document with a wide range of name ideas, you can start crossing off ones the names that aren’t a good fit for your business. Keep crossing off names from your list until you have a list of five or six favorite names remaining.

Stage Three: Check the Boxes

Validate Your Trademark

Trademark validation for your startup name is a great way to make sure that your brand name is secure. Running a trademark risk test can help you make sure that your name is not already taken by a business that’s similar. If your name is too close related to another brand name for a similar business, you may find yourself in trouble with trademark law down the line. However, if you are proactive about trademark validation you will be able to prevent any messy legal issues in the future.