It has been said that one of the most agonizing decisions for many entrepreneurs is coming upwith a name for their new business. Often, those drawn to the business world are not as strongminded when it comes to such seemingly creative tasks as giving a catchy name to their company.You might be interested to learn, however, that the best names have very little to do withcreativity and imagination, and everything to do with business acumen and a thorough research ofthe marketplace. This should put some of you at ease, who feel as though they missed out byskipping that creative writing course in college and are now at the mercy of choosing a boring,unmemorable name you will hate before the paint is dry on your sign. Here are some things youcan do to choose a powerful name for your company. First of all, you’ll need to think about what you want to get across to people. What types ofwords or phrases could you associate with your business? You’re at the molecular level at thispoint, so just remember to take it one step at a time. Think about your business and the functions,products, and services it will provide. Think about your target audience and a few of the thingsthey are likely to enjoy, other than your products. Think about some of your favorite businessnames and see if you can find a through-line that connects any or many of those names. Do theyhave a common theme? Think about not only your favorite names, but the names of thosecompanies that are most successful. Consider Coca-Cola, Nike, and McDonald’s, for instance. Doyou notice anything similar about these names? Once you’ve thought about these things, take a while to simply brainstorm some namepossibilities. Think of at least ten, and try to make them all fit in with the considerations above. Ifyou’ve found a common element to those names you came up with, see if you can’t follow in kindwith some of your own names. Don’t try to sit down and do this all at one time. Keep a notepadby your bed or on your desk and return to it anytime you happen to think of a good name to addto the list. Don’t stretch the task over the next year by any means, but it will be good to let yourmind free to think about names and associate your task with different things.
