“What’s in a name?” says Juliet to her “star-crossed” lover in Shakespeare's famous tragic romance.
When it comes to business, quite a lot actually. The name of your start-up business can have many connotations, leading people to subconsciously assume certain things about your company without having used your products or services.
And the more crowded your market is, the more important it is to choose a name that stands out from the rest.
Do you want to include your own name? If you are setting up a solicitors or accountants firm then this is traditionally the way to go.
Beware of letting your ego influence you, however. It’s nice to choose a name that resonates with you on a personal level – but you have to get the balance right between stamping your own personality on the enterprise and conveying the right attributes for your industry.
For example, if you’re working in financial services then the name must have an air of competence, reliability and honesty. The name of a clothes shop for young people, on the other hand, would need to be something contemporary, with connotations of stylishness.
You also need to consider the long-term strategic goals of your start-up. What is your mission statement? Will the name suit the kind of company you are going to be in five, 10 or 15 years time?
Parochial
What international markets are you likely to expand into in the future? Be sure to check that your chosen name does not have an offensive interpretation in the countries you envisage trading in – you don’t want to alienate your customers. And is the name going to be easily pronounceable?
Of course you could change your name down the line. But apart from the expense of replacing stationery, the trust and respect held in your old name has to be transferred to the new name – which means a bigger marketing outlay.
If you do think you will expand beyond your locality, then beware of making your brand sound parochial. Someone looking to buy a bed in Manchester might overlook Birmingham Bed Store in the classifieds on the assumption that it operates in Birmingham only. This is partly why Kentucky Fried Chicken abbreviated its name to KFC.
However, if the place of origin is synonymous with your product or service then choosing a name derived from the area can give your brand credibility. Whiskey distiller The Glenmorangie company, for example, produces a product for which Scotland is renowned and has a distinctly Scottish name.
Abstract versus instructive
Will your name explicitly reflect the service on offer, or will it be something more abstract?
It might be easier to create a sexier brand image if you do not restrict yourself to using unremarkable but instructive name like ‘Clothes Are Us’. Then again, replace this with ‘Avante Garde Apparel’ and you can foster a stylish brand image without severing the link between product and brand name.
This is a common naming strategy: using words whose meaning is widely known but which originate in other languages. This often happens with restaurants. Most Brits would know what ‘Ristorante Italiano’ means, for example, yet it has a greater air of authenticity than ‘Italian Restaurant’.
However, you don’t need a ‘sexy’ brand image when you run a drycleaners, off licence or plumbers. And you may benefit in terms of high street recognition, as well as on search engine rankings, if your name is explicitly descriptive of your generic service or product.
It could be harder to find you on the web if you deliberately misspell words – i.e., replacing a C with a K or an S with a Z. And anyway, doing this can look a bit hackneyed.
Whatever your field is, you should be careful of trying to be too clever. Companies like Xerox had a large marketing budget to help imprint the name in the public’s consciousness.
Think about the length of the name. It’s going to be harder to lodge it in your customers’ mind and will create hassle for your employees when they answer the phone if it’s too long.
Try not to use a name likely to date quickly – something ‘of its time’. For example, you might want to derive your name from the catchphrase of a popular TV show. But ask yourself: will this catchphrase still be recognised by the public in five or 10 years time?
Picture your name on stationery, signage, website uniforms, etc – does it work in these contexts? It has to.
Getting help
Who do you consult when choosing the name for your start-up? Not too many people, that’s for sure. Try to incorporate too many people’s ideas into the mix and you end up with a mish-mash with no coherent identity. Consult a select few, and make sure they’re the sort of people who understand what the company is going to be about and where it is ultimately headed.
Names will need approval from Companies House if they include sensitive words and expressions. There are also regulations that stipulate how you display your company name.
Click here to find out more about the rules and regulations covering name registration at the Companies House website.
