What's in a name? A lot, when it comes to small-business
success. The right name can make your company the talk of the town;
the wrong one can doom it to obscurity and failure. If you're
smart, you'll put just as much effort into naming your business
as you did into coming up with your idea, writing your business
plan and selecting a market and location. Ideally, your name should
convey the expertise, value and uniqueness of the product or
service you've developed.
There's a lot of controversy over what makes a good business
name. Some experts believe that the best names are abstract, a
blank slate upon which to create an image. Others think that names
should be informative, so customers know immediately what your
business is. Some believe that coined names (names that come from
made-up words) are more memorable than names that use real words.
Others think most coined names are eminently forgettable. In
reality, any type of name can be effective if it's backed by
the appropriate marketing strategy.
Do It Yourself?
Given all the considerations that go into a good company name,
shouldn't you consult an expert, especially if you're in a
field in which your company name will be visible and may influence
the success of your business? And isn't it easier to enlist the
help of a naming professional?
Yes. Just as an accountant will do a better job with your taxes
and an ad agency will do a better job with your ad campaign, a
naming firm will be more adept at naming your firm than you will.
Naming firms have elaborate systems for creating new names, and
they know their way around the trademark laws. They have the
expertise to advise you against bad name choices and explain why
others are good. A name consultant will take this perplexing task
off your hands--and do a fabulous job for you in the process.
The downside is cost. A professional naming firm may charge
anywhere from a few thousand dollars to $35,000 or more to develop
a name. The benefit, however, is that spending this money now can
save you money in the end. Professional namers may be able to find
a better name--one that is so recognizable and memorable, it will
cut down your costs in the long run. They have the expertise to
help you avoid legal hassles with trademarks and
registration--problems that can cost you plenty if you end up
choosing a name that already belongs to someone else. And they are
familiar with design elements, such as how a potential name might
work on a sign or stationery.
If you can spare the money from your startup budget,
professional help could be a solid investment. After all, the name
you choose now will affect your marketing plans for the duration of
your business. If you're like most small-business owners,
though, the responsibility for thinking up a name will be all your
own. The good news: By following the same basic steps professional
namers use, you can come up with a meaningful moniker that works .
. . without breaking the bank.
What Does It Mean?
Start by deciding what you want your name to communicate. To be
most effective, your company name should reinforce the key elements
of your business.
Gerald Lewis, whose consulting firm, CDI Designs, specializes in
helping retail food businesses, uses retail as an example. "In
retailing," Lewis explains, "the market is so segmented
that [a name must] convey very quickly what the customer is going
after. For example, if it's a warehouse store, it has to convey
that impression. If it's an upscale store selling high-quality
foods, it has to convey that impression. The name combined with the
logo is very important in doing that." So the first and most
important step in choosing a name is deciding what your business
is.
Should your name be meaningful? Most experts say yes. The more
your name communicates to consumers, the less effort you must exert
to explain it. Alan Siegel, chairman and CEO of Siegel & Gale,
an international communications firm, believes name developers
should give priority to real words or combinations of words over
fabricated words. He explains that people prefer words they can
relate to and understand. That's why professional namers
universally condemn strings of numbers or initials as a bad choice.
On the other hand, it is possible for a name to be too meaningful.
Naming consultant S.B. Master cautions business owners need to
beware of names that are too narrowly defined. Common pitfalls are
geographic names or generic names. Take the name "San Pablo
Disk Drives" as a hypothetical example. What if the company
wants to expand beyond the city of San Pablo, California? What
meaning will that name have for consumers in Chicago or Pittsburgh?
And what if the company diversifies beyond disk drives into
software or computer instruction manuals?
Specific names make sense if you intend to stay in a narrow
niche forever. If you have any ambitions of growing or expanding,
however, you should find a name that is broad enough to accommodate
your growth. How can a name be both meaningful and broad? Master
makes a distinction between descriptive names (like San Pablo Disk
Drives) and suggestive names. Descriptive names tell something
concrete about a business--what it does, where it's located and
so on. Suggestive names are more abstract. They focus on what the
business is about. Would you like to convey quality? Convenience?
Novelty? These are the kinds of qualities that a suggestive name
can express.
For example, Master came up with the name "Italiatour"
to help promote package tours to Italy. Though it's not a real
word, the name "Italiatour" is meaningful. Right away,
you recognize what's being offered. But even better, the name
"Italiatour" evokes the excitement of foreign travel.
"It would have been a very different name if we had called it
‘Italytour,'" says Master. "But we took a
foreign word, ‘Italia,' but one that was very familiar
and emotional and exciting to English speakers, and combined it
with the English word ‘tour.' It's easy to say,
it's unique, it's unintimidating, but it still has an
Italian flavor."
Before you start thinking up names for your new business, try to
define the qualities that you want your business to be identified
with. If you're starting a hearth-baked bread shop, for
example, you might want a name that conveys freshness, warmth, and
a homespun atmosphere. Immediately, you can see that names like
"Kathy's Bread Shop" or "Arlington Breads"
would communicate none of these qualities. But consider the name
"Open Hearth Breads." The bread sounds homemade, hot, and
just out of the oven. Moreover, if you diversified your product
line, you could alter the name to "Open Hearth Bakery."
This change would enable you to hold onto your suggestive name
without totally mystifying your established clientele.