Naming in building a startup - How do you choose a company name?

Naming - Why is the name of a company, and especially an internet startup, so important?

John Compton, who was president Quaker Oats He noted that if he were to leave him the name of his company and take away all the other assets, he would have the most valuable part of it. If the biggest companies, including Internet companies, were to be stripped of their names, they would probably quickly go bankrupt. Naming has become a very important aspect when starting start-ups. It will definitely be better to invest in this type of element than to later make attempts to change the invented name “from hand”. Choosing a company name should be a completely conscious process. When naming, it is worth paying attention to at least a few timeless rules.

How to choose a company name?

Naming is a process during which it is worth following at least a few rules. Taking them into account, we significantly increase the chances of a positive reception of the name among potential colleagues, customers and business partners.

Psychology

The name of a startup says a lot about the business, founders, mission eggs and goals. What people think when they first hear the name of your startup matters a lot. The first impression we will make on business partners and customers is what they will initially think of our company when they hear or see the name of the company and what it is associated with (such as wealth or prestige) are of great importance.

When starting a company, we must know that a negatively associated name can negatively affect the image and perception of it in the business environment. Of course, the name of the company does not have to be associated with everything positively, there will certainly be a handful of people whose name does not like and therefore has negative associations, it is natural. However, if the perception is the opposite, then it is time to change.

Accessibility

No matter what, we will not bypass the recipes. Before choosing a name, we should check if it is available and no one has reserved it before for another company. By choosing a name taken by someone, we can unnecessarily expose our startup to unnecessary lawsuits and additional costs. Let's also check if the domain with the new name of our company is free and that we will not have problems creating accounts on all social media. Only then can we gain more confidence and make a decision.

In today's world, most businesses exist on the internet. Interesting company names let's also check for the availability of the domain that will support our website.

The best way to do this will be to hire a professional to guide you through the process of legal verification of your name. If you are worried that your company name may be used in another industry, you can do a trademark search by checking all patents. There are thousands of guides on Google on trademark research. However, if you hire a professional, you will get more detailed information.

Simplicity of name

It is said that if it were necessary to determine the average length of all the names of the largest companies in the world, it would be just over six letters. The name should be simple in sound, spelling, appearance, pronunciation and message.

Good as the name is short. Long names are problematic for many reasons. A long name will cause you to choose a long domain name, i.e. a long URL. We should also anticipate, headlines and titles of social media accounts that you may want to use in the future. Twitter names end in just 15 characters, so it's better to take care of a relatively short name in advance.

What if all the domains are already occupied? Let's check domain listings on exchanges and domain auctions or learn about a number of new domain extensions called nTLDs (e.g.design, .agency, .top, .ski, etc.)

Let's pay attention in advance to whether we plan to develop our online startup internationally. If so, naming should take this aspect into account. The ability to pronounce the name is then to be easy regardless of the nationality of the potential recipient and their language.

If people have trouble pronouncing the name of the company, they will most likely dare to avoid pronouncing it. Watch an interesting video by Paulina Mikuła who runs a YouTube channel called “Speaking Differently”, about the difficulties that a troublesome brand name can cause.

Let's not overdo it with the use of various kinds of abbreviations, because most often they mean nothing to our recipient. For example, the abbreviation KLS can only make sense after interpretation. Let's avoid similar situations and try to make our lives as easy as possible.

Memorability of the name

The best situation is when the naming and the finished name of the company is associated with the industry in which it operates. If we succeed, the subsequent process of positioning the brand and promoting services or products will be much simpler than you might expect. Before making a final decision, it is worth deciding on research, during which we will prove the ease of memorizing a given name. If we are looking for other ways to make it easier for customers to remember, let's clearly stand out from the competition in our sector. Another construction company with a particle of “bud” in the name is unlikely to be very popular, since there are at least a dozen companies that have previously come up with the same idea.

The best company names are those that are easy to pronounce and spell, are names that potential customers remember more often. When your satisfied customers share your business name with family and friends, they will act as the “good spirits” of your brand. Choosing a smooth, clean name greatly facilitates the process of communication.

Universality and timelessness of the company name

The best brand is one that will be as relevant in twenty or fifty years. Probably everyone will admit that creating a name that would be as relevant over time despite the constantly changing preferences of consumers can cause chills. However, if you take care of all the above conditions, everything is possible. Of course, we also need to take care of other elements of our company's marketing strategy.

The process, that is, the basic steps in creating a company name yourself

Do you feel empowered to create a name for your business yourself? See what basic steps we propose to take to make this process a success.

1. Let's come up with and write down several dozen proposals that satisfy us. Let's write down everything that comes to mind. Let's do a “brainstorming” in the company or at home.
2. Let's choose those proposals that seem to us the best. Let it be 5 - 7 selected names.
3. If a free domain is required, we check its availability.
4. Each of the proposals, let's pre-verify in online databases Patent Office of the Republic of Poland. In this way, we will obtain a 95% probability that the presented name is not registered.
5. We will also verify the proposed names in Google — the first 20 results.
6. If the names are free, let's see if they have negative meanings in other, key languages for the industry.

Thanks to the above steps, you will avoid the basic risks that come with trying to come up with a name for a startup on your own.

Naming and working with an agency - Which offer and price list will be noteworthy?

Many people who start a startup, especially in the online industry, wonder if outsourcing naming is a good idea. Choosing the wrong name at the beginning of a business is a big risk, especially for a startup that struggles to save every penny. Contrary to popular opinion, putting everything on one card and coming up with a name on your own, and especially when the team lacks marketing competencies, can be more expensive than outsourcing the entire process to professionals. When choosing an agency, let's first look at its previous projects to determine if it will provide us with the quality of service we expect.

An example of a name created by an interactive agency is the name of the web platform Pro Bono Surveysled by research firm IMAS International. Naming that we created was the first stage of further work: logo and website design.

Now you know how to go through the naming process effectively and with good results. Once, and a well-thought-out name of the company will bring benefits probably throughout the entire period of the existence of the enterprise.

But... if the agency that took on the task of building a name for the brand, did work with the results that you're not happy with, say so. The name will serve you and the company for a long time and you will have to live with it, so do not accept a name that you do not like and that you do not like.

Or maybe choose a ready-made name for your business?

A ready-made name is one that has already been created and is available for use. Choosing a ready-made name, we save time and effort needed to create a name from scratch. A ready-made name can also be a good solution, because it has already been studied in terms of legal availability, or at least it should:) We can also more easily assess whether a given name is interesting and unique.

How to find an interesting and ready-made name for your business?

The process of finding the perfect ready-made name for your business can be simpler than it sounds. There are many online platforms that offer ready-made names for startups. We can browse through different categories and choose names that match our preferences and company values. It is important to choose one that will be legally available, will have a free domain (or sold in a bundle) and will be interesting and worthy of representing our company.

Where to find ready-made names for a startup?

There are many online platforms that offer ready-made names for startups. We can browse through different categories and choose names that match our preferences and company values. An example of such a platform in Poland is RMarket.pl, where we will find a wide selection of ready-made names for various industries and fields of activity. Importantly, the website offers names in a package with a domain registered for that name, and sometimes with a ready-to-use, designed logo.

If our future company has global aspirations and we want an international name with.com domain and a ready-made logo, it may be worth taking an interest in the service Novanym.com, which offers ready-made names along with domains with.com extension and a designed logo in one package.

Legal aspects related to the use of the finished name

When choosing a ready-made name for our business, it is important to make sure that the name is legally available and does not violate the copyrights of other companies. Before registering a name, it is worth consulting with a lawyer or intellectual property specialist to ensure that our name is legal.

Summary

Creating a new name for your business according to the principles described in this article may seem difficult and time consuming. However, in our opinion, it is worth making the effort and creating a name tailored to our company. She will be with the company for many years, maybe decades and more.

Choosing a ready-made name for your startup can be easier than creating a name from scratch. Sometimes you can try this solution especially if the time to create it is crucial. As a rule, however, haste in the process of creating names for the company is not advisable.