Getting Started: Choosing Your Business Name
August 10th, 2007 (11:00am) Mike Gunderloy 12 Comments
The new web worker faces a myriad of decisions, from what to put on business cards to what business structure to choose. Running through many of these decisions is a single thread: what company name will you operate under? Even if you’re a one man show (as many of us are), having a corporate identity can help make you look more legitimate to potential clients as well as help you treat your own work more seriously.
Naming, though, can be tough. Some people get hung up here, agonizing over potential choices and unable to move on with starting their business. Others go with the first name that comes to mind, and regret it later. If you’re just launching your web work career (or thinking of a renaming), here are five basic points to keep in mind:
Unless you’re famous, don’t operate under your own name: Doctors and lawyers traditionally do business as “John Doe, a Professional Corporation”, but for most of the rest of us that just looks pretentious. It also doesn’t tell potential clients anything about what you do, and misses a chance to make a first impression.
Namestorm: Think about potential names, but try not to fall in love with any of them. Write a bunch down that sing to you. Try to come up with names that describe what you do, what’s great about you, or that inspire customers. Run them by friends you trust to see their reactions, but remember that you’re the one who has to live with the name. When you have a pool of names to choose from, then you can narrow it down to the one that seems best to you.
Don’t tie yourself to a technology: “Rails Wizards” may sound great now, with Ruby on Rails flying high, but what are you going to do in five years when some other technology takes over the market share? At best, you’ll go through a painful renaming; at worst, you’ll be trying to convince potential clients that you’re not an outdated dinosaur.
You must get the dot-com: It doesn’t matter how great the name is, if you can’t get name.com, it’s not worth having. People will look for you at the dot-com even if you’re registered at one of the other top-level domains, no matter how often you emphasize the difference. A corollary: if your company name is not easily and unambiguously spelled over the phone, you’ll regret it.
Don’t ignore the legalities: After you find the perfect name for your business, you need to make sure you can legally use it. This involves conducting a name search to make sure you’re not trampling someone else’s trademark rights. Nolo Press has an overview of the process.
12 Comments Post your own comment
Liz Greer says: August 10th, 2007 12:54pm
Also, before you commit to your new name, run it by a few people who would be likely prospects for your services – not your mother or your non-geek friends – to get reactions. You don’t want to create a groupthink exercise, but you do need honest feedback about how your new name is likely to be received.
Sarah Rekala says: August 10th, 2007 2:35pm
Before you choose a name ,u must make sure it is not annoying or indecent or doesn’t harm anyone’s sentiments about their background or their ethics.
next STEPH says: August 10th, 2007 7:19pm
Dig deep as to to what you and /or your business is about, then brainstorm to find a way to communicate it succinctly with the widest possible audience.
Rolltimer says: August 11th, 2007 3:15am
Use a naming service like Picky Domains and let them generate the winning name for you. Cost is $50 which you pay upfront but it is refunded if you don’t choose any of their offerings. The service is geared toward providing domain names, not necessarily company or business names. Might be easier to create a “brand” if your business and domain name are the same.
Sherrilynne says: August 11th, 2007 3:52am
Don’t rush. The first idea is not usually the best. I went some way down the road to incorporation with two other names before I came up with Strive. I’m pretty happy with it. :-)
Di says: August 11th, 2007 2:47pm
Keep it simple is our policy. In our society we only have a few seconds to get a biz. message across. If your biz. name doesn’t immediately shout at the customer what you can do for them they will often move along quickly to another biz. It is also best to have what you do somewhere in the name of the biz.
xpherion says: August 11th, 2007 7:26pm
business name is crucial, once you get the name then everything falls into places. but you still need a solid business plan.
Strive Notes » Top 5: August 12 says: August 12th, 2007 4:11am
[...] Web Worker Daily has some sound advice on choosing a company [...]
KaoS says: August 12th, 2007 11:49pm
I don’t fully agree with the biz. message task being first.
What makes a great name lies behind it. I mean your products, quality, reputation, etc.
Just choose a simple name that’s easy to tell in a phone conversation, and easy to grasp visually. That is the end of your name work. When a name is big it starts sounding right. Just imagine how big names would sound without what they bring to the world. Personally, I find “Apple” at least unimaginative. But what it’s now? “Mercedes” is a girl’s name, “how come?” you’d ask that German a while ago.
The name can be absolutely unrelated to what you do but it needs to be easy to remember. If you ask me what to choose between “EastCoast BroadBand Solutions” and, say, “DollyJump, Inc”, you know my opinion.
It’s business what builds name, not vice versa.
The 30 month evolution of my online graphic design portfolio :: David Airey :: Graphic Designer says: October 12th, 2007 12:58am
[...] choosing a business name [...]
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[...] new independent web worker, you’ll face many decisions, from which color envelopes to buy to what to name the company. But there’s one decision with such huge consequences that it overshadows almost all of the [...]
What to Do When the Dot-Com You Want Isn’t Available says: June 30th, 2009 1:01pm
[...] From a couple of years ago on WWD: “You must get the dot-com: It doesn’t matter how great the name is, if you can’t get name.com, it’s not worth having. People will look for you at the dot-com even if you’re registered at one of the other top-level domains, no matter how often you emphasize the difference.” And from last year: “For most web workers .com is still the place to be. That’s because no matter how Internet-savvy you are, it’s fairly likely that your customers still hear ‘Internet’ and think ‘dot-com.’ If you want to be found, put your site where the clicks will go.” [...]