What’s in a Name?

One of the greatest challenges when starting a new business or adding a new service or product to your current line, is choosing the perfect name. The name you choose to represent your company, products and services is a vital aspect of beginning your brand development. It is what your logo identity and marketing components will be developed from.

Where do you begin? The first step in the process is to define your business. Ask questions such as:

What does my business represent and what is my philosophy?
What will be my central product or service offering?
How will my name be displayed? On a shelf? On a sign? In a brochure?
Who will be my target audience?
Who is my competition and what are they doing?
How is my business different from others like me?
How is my business different from others like me?
Will I be primarily selling online or in a retail setting?
Asking questions about your business focus, practices and philosophy will help you to begin developing names based upon the answers to those questions. It will give you a feel for your business operations before you have even begun conducting business.

Your next step is to list as many business/product names as you possibly can. It is important during this brainstorming session that you do not exclude anything that comes to mind. Write down everything you think of. It is best to do this with another person who might have a vested interest in your business or someone you trust to be honest with you on your naming selections. Getting the opinion of others will help you to identify possible pitfalls and surprising positives about the names you have listed.

The fine-tuning process comes only after you have a good list to select from. Try to narrow your name search down to five names that you are good possibilities. List the positives and negatives of both. An important aspect of today’s business is how a name will play out on the World Wide Web. Will you be able to register a domain name for use on the web? This aspect of naming a business can often be the first thing that will throw a good name out of the mix. Many web domain names are already taken and finding one that will be short, memorable and unique is often a challenge.

Trademark
Registering your name as a trademark may also affect what name you eventually decide upon. It depends on how much business you intend to do globally. A trademark is much more essential if you plan to expand your business nationally or globally. If you intend to do business locally, your concern need only be with the trade name registration within the state you conduct business. Each state has it’s own set of rules. It is wise when registering for a trademark, to hire a lawyer. Do not try to do this process yourself unless you have legal expertise in this area.

Using Prefixes and Suffixes
Some ideas for developing business names are to combine prefixes and suffixes. Think of a list of prefixes that might represent your business well and describe what you do. Prefix words such as: skin, vital, etc., can be combined with suffix words such as: glow, care and spa. The results can be Skin Spa, Skin Glow or VitalCare.

Using Your Own Name
Individuals who are entering into private industry, may choose to name their businesses from their own first and last names or a combination of their names. This is common and acceptable for businesses where the owner participates as the main service individual in the business. In the spa and aesthetic industry, this makes sense because likely, you are selling products that you will stand behind, or actually provide the services directly to your clientele. There is a unique friendliness and exclusiveness to using your own name in some form when choosing a business name because clientele can easily relate to the individual it is named after.


Alpha-Numeric Names
Another unique method of naming a business is to use a combination of letters and numbers. You may use the number 1 to represent being first in your area or best in your field. Perhaps you use the numbers off your address or use a number to represent the number partners you have in your business. Examples would be Skin One or Salon 109.

Place Names
Creating an environment for your spa or salon is very important to make your clientele feel at home and comfortable. That relaxation that you hope to evoke could be created as well with your business name. A place name can actually be a physical location such as Salon 109, or it could be a visual name such as The Retreat or Cloud Nine. A “place” name can help you to create an experience for your clientele.

More Details
Your business name should be as short as your able to make it. Short names have a tendency to be remembered easily. Try to avoid lengthy multiple word names for your company name. Avoid adding a lot to them including taglines, etc. Taglines should be used as a separate component to your name and logo and should not be a part of your name.

Other things to consider about choosing a name are the letter choices you use and the sounds those letters make. You want a name that’s easy to spell, pronounce and read. The following are considerations for sounds of your name that might affect your decision:

Harder and masculine sounds: p-t-k-ch-j-a-u-o
Softer and feminine sounds: l-m-n-ng-sh-s-I-e
Speed sounds: v-f-z-s
Pace sounds: p-t-b-d-l-m
Negative feelings sounds: q-x-z-f-u
Positive feelings sounds: a-b-s-t-m
Your business name is an aspect of your business that will leave a mark on the future of all of your business interactions. It will have a history, a future. Clients will recognize it and associate with it at different levels because of varied backgrounds. Sharing your ideas with others and getting feedback is a necessity for understanding the value of your future business name.

Remember to choose a name that has meaning and that you can provide a story behind which will be pertinent to your business transactions or your business development. Your name becomes your roots for your business and has the most value of anything you will do as you work on creating a client base.

About the Author
Yvonne Denault is an award-winning graphic designer out of Fargo, North Dakota. Yvonne has Ten years of design experience including corporate brand design at Microsoft Business Solutions, special events communications and brand consultation through ownership of a design studio, extensive graphic design instruction at MN State Community and Technical College and most recently, ownership of pointofpurpose.com - a Christian t-shirt and merchandise online retailer.
Yvonne operates her own design studio, Joli Motif. If you are interested in contacting her regarding design and/or branding projects, please contact her by phone at 701.373.5770.