Five Tips for Naming Your Business
Written by Janna Rae—June 30, 2021
Whether you’re starting a new business venture or considering a rebrand, your business name can play a crucial role in your success.
It is imperative that you spend the needed time on this stage of your business. The wrong name can cause more damage than failing to connect with your customers; it can also result in insurmountable business and legal hurdles.
That said, a clear and concise name can be beneficial in your marketing and branding efforts. If you are in the process of naming or renaming your business, consider these five tips.
1. Phonetics & Spelling
Is your name easy to pronounce and remember? Say it aloud—it may look good on paper but sound awful phonetically.
Another important consideration is the spelling of your chosen name. Is it spelled as it sounds? Is it easy to spell and remember? Finally, ask yourself this—if someone heard your name in conversation or, let's say, on the radio would they be able to remember it later to look up or contact you?
2. Descriptive, Suggestive or Empty Vessel
Descriptive names are functional and position the brand. There's no ambiguity, and your customer knows what you do with just a glance at your name.
The Weather Channel
Royal Bank of Canada
Cobb's Bread
On the other hand, suggestive names indicate what your product or service delivers to the customer. Suggestive names are functional and unique, making them a popular choice. It's a creative way to position your brand by building on metaphors, analogies and associations your customer already understands.
KitchenAid
Pinterest
Youtube
While Empty Vessel names have no connection to your products or services, they are flexible and can mean anything. You will need to educate your customers on your brand the products or services you sell, inherently using more marketing resources. When choosing an empty vessel name, you need to be mindful of sounds, spelling, and how it looks on paper. Empty vessel names usually work well for Fortune 500 companies but occasionally can work well for smaller-scale businesses as well.
Google
Starbucks
Roku
3. Keep it Short and Simple and Beware of Initials
Create a memorable business name that rolls off the tongue. The goal is not to be too short or too long. Try to include full words instead of initials or acronyms.
While many marketing experts will advise you against using initials as a business name, your customers may still refer to your company using an acronym (especially if you've chosen a long name). Thoughtfully planned names safeguard against an embarrassing or damaging business acronym.
4. Internet and Domain Search.
Once you've shortlisted a few names, do a web search. More often than not, you will find that someone else is using that name or a similar name. While this is not a complete roadblock, it is a sign that you should dig a bit deeper. For example, are these companies in your area or industry? Do they already own the domains? Will your customers get confused when looking you up online?
Grab your domain as soon as you've made up your mind. If you are a Canadian business, I strongly suggest using a .ca domain while snagging the .com domain as well. This signals that you are a Canadian business; we have the Canadian Internet Registration Authority, which provides an extra layer of security.
5. Nuans Search.
Whether you are a sole proprietor, in a partnership or have a corporation, a Nuans Search is an essential step to ensuring you don't run into any trouble down the road.
A Nuans name search report provides a list of existing corporate names, business names, and trademarks similar to the one being proposed. The report is necessary for certain federal transactions.
Alberta Nuans Search | Corporate Nuans Search Gov’t of Canada