Naming Your Start-up: Simple Do’s and Don’ts

The time to start thinking about the ideal name for your new business is at the same time you start putting your business plan on paper.

Yes, your business – no matter how small a start-up – should have a written business plan. But that’s another story for another day. For now, let’s look at the most important reason to pick just the right name for your business.

If there’s one idea you want to carry with you always, particularly as you evaluate possible names for your business, it’s this: Perception is reality!.

How would-be customers will think about your business starts with the impression its name creates in their mind. So think long and hard. Next, they’ll be impressed – or not – by how that name is presented graphically – colors, type style, any accompanying art, perhaps a “tag line” or “positioning statement” that describes or amplifies some unique aspect of your business.

How and where you use that name also creates an impression, including on business cards, letterhead, envelopes, labels. Even bags and boxes, billboards, store windows, including on the sides of your fleet of delivery trucks.

As you can see, the name of your business will have many faces and wear many hats, so creating the final graphics package – unless you’re a graphics pro – isn’t something you want to do while sitting at your kitchen table. Invest the few hundred dollars it takes to have a professional graphic design firm put together several versions for you to review and choose from. It’s truly a wise investment.

The image or perception you create for your company name – whether deliberately or through neglect – is how both existing and potential customers will think of your company each time they see or hear its name. And creating that perception, the perceived reality of your business, begins with whatever name you give it.

Give some thought, too, to registering that name in its final design presentation – the whole thing is called a “logo” – as a trademark. Yes, it will cost you several hundred dollars more, but once it’s registered, no one else will be able to use your name for their business. That simple act of registration can save you untold head aches, plus thousands of dollars, down the road.

© 2006, Philip A. Grisolia, CBC Phil Grisolia is the author of 101 Questions You MUST Answer BEFORE You Start A Business. An accredited Certified Business Communicator (CBC), Phil is also an educator, business coach, and an award-winning copywriter. To learn more about Phil and the help he provides for his small-business clients, visit him at http://PhilGrisolia.com While there, be sure to sign up for a free subscription to his best-in-class newsletter – Making Sense of Marketing™ — as well as discover how you can request a free no-obligation analysis of your firm’s marketing efforts.

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