A business name is often an identifier, revealing something unique about the company. A name may tell customers what the business does such as Ford Motors, how they do it like LA Therapeutic Massage, what they promise to deliver such as Thompsons Best Apparel, who the people are behind it naming Smith and Wesson and what the business hopes to achieve promising Prosperity Credit. Other business names provoke further investigation or questions, such as names like 401K or Oxygen.
In most businesses across the globe, the business name reflects the businesses positive attributes, in names like Lucky Enterprises, Best Buy Depot, Star Corporation, the Dynamic Software Company and so on. You would be hard pressed to find any positive words that havent been put to use one way or another in a business name.
The initial selection of a business name is a relatively easy process, what most often causes headaches is when the organization seeks to register their business name. The authorities dont allow two businesses to use the very same name. This decisions makes sense, as clearly having multiple businesses bearing the same moniker would make the regulation of organizations a nightmare! For example, if a registered business is found to be violating some law it is therefore open to prosecution. If more than one business has the same name, then there is the potential that during an investigation, the other business entity would naturally be open to being implicated. For this reason it is unsurprising that the unauthorized use of a registered business name thus became a violation of the law also.
Having considered the implications of sharing an existing business name, then the next thing worth working on are names youll want to rule out. In all honesty, its only the weirdo types who will want to name businesses as Unscrupulous Incorporated or Thieves R Us! Although it raises curiosity and provokes humor, common sense tends to dictate that dealing with an unscrupulous organization or worse yet a thief, is risky in business. Chances are you would run the other way if you were confronted with a bank named the Bankrupts Bank of the Middle East or Shady Dealings Bank.
On the other hand, the clever use of a weird, intriguing and easily recalled business names can save an organization a bundle on advertising money, through the use of clever and satirical business names. One crafty air-conditioning service center named its business Stiff Nipples, using eye catching, sexy wording in the business title of a company selling air conditioners!
A popular example of a satirical business name is the successful Monster. Surprisingly, it is a job placement service. Why would a jobseeker go to work for a monster, or an employer hire one for that matter? This name begs the question of what the likes of Karl Marx would have made of this unique business name, given his stance on capitalism! One suspects that he would have loved to make fun of that website in advancing his particular ideology. As a business name, however, this unusual choice has nonetheless become synonymous with the employment website.
A recent post by a writer from Ezine highlighted this unusual selection of names. When asked their thoughts on several different words one respondent commented that Amazon suggested a jungle when in fact it was the business name of an internet business, the respondent noted Apple was a brand of computer named after a fruit and Caterpillar was a brand of heavy machinery rather than a soft, crawling bug. These answers served to highlight the juxtaposition of the business names and products with the initial meanings of the words used in their names.
If you have found the perfect name only to discover it is taken, then you can still find a way around this. One way is by associating the name selected with your particular business location. If you want your name to be Superstars Marketing, then naming your business New York Superstars Marketing can give you the name you are after without conflicting with another registered name. The thing you should consider in this situation is whether the other business is already in your location doing the same thing with a very similar name. If this is the case then you may simply be better off looking for an alternative business name.
Choosing an appropriate and meaningful business name is one of the key ingredients for your business. When you are starting out the choice of name can play a key role in your advertising, marketing and branding. Spending time ensuring that your business name is a good fit with your products and service will make the key promotional elements of your business plan easier to implement. Have some fun with your business name and view it as a unique opportunity to start the process of carving out your own niche in your area of business.
