A name, just like a business logo, is super important and goes a long way at determining the level of patronage, awareness, publicity and positioning of any brand.
As an entrepreneur, here are five important factors you need to note while giving your business a name.
1. Suggestive
Your business name should suggest something about the brand. People should see it and be able to tell to some extent what exactly it is that you do.
Using Monster as an example, the name will definitely inform you that it is fierce and seeing it on a can or bottle sends the signal of it being an energy drink to your RAS.
That’s how suggestive a name should be.
2. Rememberable
Pick a name that is easy to pronounce and remember. It doesn’t matter the language in which it is named, just make sure that it is very relative, easy to remember, not difficult to spell and very easy to pronounce.
This simplicity makes it easier for the name to stick in the minds of your potential clients.
3. Distinctive
Your brand should have a name that is very different from that of your competition. Never should both names be mistaken for each other.
This means that your brand name and that of your competitors shouldn’t be the same word in different tenses of even have the same meaning.
Just make sure the name is distinctive, unique and different.
4. Extendable
Amazon started out as a website on which anyone could purchase books and books only. However, over time, there was need for expansion and it went on to become a store where you could purchase anything at all.
If they had limited their name to books.com , there would have been a need for change. Hence, we can say that the word “Amazon” is extendable.
Every brand name should be extendable, such that if the business expands and branches out to other fields, such name can still be kept.
5. Registerable
In Nigeria, every business name must first be approved by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). This is in order to ensure that no two companies have the same exact name.
Before you go on to name your business, carry out a “search” with the CAC to ensure that your intended name is original and has not been used already. It will save you from future legal issues.
