I was at a networking event recently where an up and coming entrepreneur asked the question, how do you pick the name of your company? This got me thinking, what was the process that I went through when I was looking for a name?
Thinking back it was very tricky, like starting with a blank canvas where the possibilities were endless.
The best way to start is to open a bottle of wine or make a cup of tea and most importantly be in creative space. Enlist the help of friends, family or colleagues if need be.
I had a number of brainstorming sessions and had some friends help out with some of these as well. I picked all the phrases and words that described the product then I tried another path where I described the company. I googled to see what others were called in this space to avoid having the same name.
I looked for language translators and put in some of the words/phrases I had come up with to see if I liked any of the words. Different combinations of words in any language were explored as well.
It was several weeks before I finally settled on Virtual EyeSee. I liked the combination of EyeSee which was a play on words from I See. The word Virtual is self explanatory.
Here are some businesses that I have come across and this might give you some ideas on how to pick one.
Use your own name like Holly Michael Graphic Design
Pick a name that has a story that is meaningful to your business Klondike Marketing and Consulting
Another is to have a name that describes your business
So what are some of the things that you did to pick the name of your company? What were some of the things you did to inspire you? Any suggestions on how to get started?
Facebook
LinkedIn
Twitter
Blog RSS
Comments RSS
December 18th, 2007 at 7:09 pm
Hi Natasha and welcome to the blogosphere.
thank you for the mention. All the best for the season and may this be the first of many posts.
cheers,
Ian
January 13th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
Ah yes….picking a name for your business! What a process! Creative, Involved, Engaging and Fun were all important elements involved in choosing “the” name. I had a few in mind and as Natasha mentionned involving others in the selection is critical. One can get pretty immersed in their biz and suffer from tunnel vision. So a little help from friends, family and colleagues is always beneficial.
My biz name was chosen after my original business plan had been written. While plugging away at the plan I kept my eyes and ears open for inspiration in the name department. I networked extensively with only my personal name but felt a biz name was important. I wanted my biz name to reflect my vision and mission so including the team aspect was very important. So that’s where the Fleet bit came in…. then the Fit just naturally positioned itself. I officially chose FitFleet Fitness and have since discovered that it’s a mouth full. So I have shortened it to FitFleet when speaking with people – it saves the tongue twister.
So get out there beautiful people and have fun with this process. You can always sample a few before you commit 100% Have fun!