Doing business is not always about numbers, yes it is about them, but not when its about starting-up. What is the first thing (out of many) that every entrepreneur is concerned about? What will be thy name!
Yes, how to name your baby?
'Baby' here is not the literal human being we are talking about. The baby here is your dream, your business idea, the fire in your belly, the air you breathe and almost everything you own.
Just like there goes a lot in naming your baby, you think about a name with all the love, passion, life and give it a lot of thought. Similar is the process of naming your business venture.
What's in a name: quite a lot!
Over the past few years we have heard from many entrepreneurs, especially the start-ups who have been riding high on innovation, while choosing the best names to represent their dream ventures in the market. Lately with the Web 2.0 dominating, many new product and service companies have cropped up, which have given some very interesting names.
Lets get to the point, lets help you name 'thy name'
* If you follow these pointers we are sharing, we would appreciate a thanks as a comment to this post, if it helps you come up with a winning name :)
1. Naming is the first step in branding
- The name sets the first tone for your venture to be remembered by your target audience. Depending upon your offering, it can be playful or academic or professional or edgey. Just don’t let it be boring. Break the 'sound' barrier, try listening to the name, the sound!
2. Your initials look good only as your initials
- Many people, especially partners, use the initials of their names to name their ventures. Well, not really a smart move. Yes we know, there are some major companies in the world who are named this way, but they are 'some' and they have been operational since decades now and have a clear cut brand proposition and recall.
3. Help search engines search you
- Let your company name be unique and still have that understanding, such that it is quickly optimized to be searched by search engines.
4. Think about legalities involved
- Think about the legalities involved. Its crucial. The registrar of companies is the organization which can help you assess whether the name that you have chosen is really available or not. There are trademark issues which start-ups many a times miss.
5. Ask your customers
- You are obviously clear about what you are aiming to do. There sure is a target audience/ market for the same which you are trying to communicate to. So go and communicate. Yes, communicate and ask your target audience how would they like your proposition to be. List down all the key-words which they speak of while talking about your proposition. Pay attention to the words they speak.
6. Region and Religion
- Many geographies of the world might be sensitive to religion based issues. Keep a note of it.
7. Mean it right
- A word in English language may have a negative meaning in some other International language. Your business has to be global now. Remember you have to have names well researched geographically.
8. Name has a color, context and shape
- We are serious about this. Your business name is not just a name. Many a times, especially for product companies the name creates a picture of the prospective offering in the minds of the target audience. Your logo will have to communicate the same what your business name does.
Always remember to keep multiple names as options first hand with you as everything might fall in place but many a times, the names might not be available legally with the registrar.This has been the experience of many start-ups.
We know you are excited with your dream venture, we will be happy to know the name! Share with us as comment to this blog post :)
Yes, how to name your baby?
'Baby' here is not the literal human being we are talking about. The baby here is your dream, your business idea, the fire in your belly, the air you breathe and almost everything you own.
Just like there goes a lot in naming your baby, you think about a name with all the love, passion, life and give it a lot of thought. Similar is the process of naming your business venture.
What's in a name: quite a lot!
Over the past few years we have heard from many entrepreneurs, especially the start-ups who have been riding high on innovation, while choosing the best names to represent their dream ventures in the market. Lately with the Web 2.0 dominating, many new product and service companies have cropped up, which have given some very interesting names.
Lets get to the point, lets help you name 'thy name'
* If you follow these pointers we are sharing, we would appreciate a thanks as a comment to this post, if it helps you come up with a winning name :)
1. Naming is the first step in branding
- The name sets the first tone for your venture to be remembered by your target audience. Depending upon your offering, it can be playful or academic or professional or edgey. Just don’t let it be boring. Break the 'sound' barrier, try listening to the name, the sound!
2. Your initials look good only as your initials
- Many people, especially partners, use the initials of their names to name their ventures. Well, not really a smart move. Yes we know, there are some major companies in the world who are named this way, but they are 'some' and they have been operational since decades now and have a clear cut brand proposition and recall.
3. Help search engines search you
- Let your company name be unique and still have that understanding, such that it is quickly optimized to be searched by search engines.
4. Think about legalities involved
- Think about the legalities involved. Its crucial. The registrar of companies is the organization which can help you assess whether the name that you have chosen is really available or not. There are trademark issues which start-ups many a times miss.
5. Ask your customers
- You are obviously clear about what you are aiming to do. There sure is a target audience/ market for the same which you are trying to communicate to. So go and communicate. Yes, communicate and ask your target audience how would they like your proposition to be. List down all the key-words which they speak of while talking about your proposition. Pay attention to the words they speak.
6. Region and Religion
- Many geographies of the world might be sensitive to religion based issues. Keep a note of it.
7. Mean it right
- A word in English language may have a negative meaning in some other International language. Your business has to be global now. Remember you have to have names well researched geographically.
8. Name has a color, context and shape
- We are serious about this. Your business name is not just a name. Many a times, especially for product companies the name creates a picture of the prospective offering in the minds of the target audience. Your logo will have to communicate the same what your business name does.
Always remember to keep multiple names as options first hand with you as everything might fall in place but many a times, the names might not be available legally with the registrar.This has been the experience of many start-ups.
We know you are excited with your dream venture, we will be happy to know the name! Share with us as comment to this blog post :)
Very engaging write up!
ReplyDeleteThanks Neha for your encouraging words. Keep reading and do suggest us what you would really want to read about?!
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