by Thomas
Alan
http://www.APTeamBuild.com
©
2008
So, you have just set up a plan for your new business.
One of the first things many small business owners do when starting is to find
a company name. Very often they resort to cuteness, chance, or other irrelevant
modes of decision making. Naming your business should not be left to fate or the
likes of your best friend. It takes as much procedure and research as any other
aspect of your business. People who don't realize this often make terrible mistakes
when naming their business, putting themselves on the back foot right from the
start. If you want to give your business a name that will survive, avoid some
of these common mistakes and you'll be in a much stronger position.
First,
don't let others decide things for you. Rarely has anything creative or good has
ever come out of a group meeting, certainly rare enough to avoid this pitfall.
There are sure to be hurt feelings and damaged relationships if you choose to
go with one person's idea over that of another. When naming your company, it's
best to go it alone. You'll get better results, and no one has to have their feeling
hurt in the process. Keep the group meetings for less creative solutions.
Next,
avoid being the business owner who takes two unrelated words and tries to combine
them to make a new, more catchy word. This is unwise and should be avoided at
all costs. Your business deserves better than to follow this latest trend just
because it's fashionable with some celebrity couples. Decide on a name that is
unique and relates to what you do and doesn't leave people wondering what just
what you are doing.
The biggest mistake you can make when
naming your business is to choose a common word as your name. For one, you are
guaranteeing the fact that there are probably at least a hundred other companies
across the country with the same name. Also, you make your company almost impossible
to find using an internet search engine. With so much of today's business being
done on the internet, you can't afford to intentionally lose yourself in the chaos.
Even if you don't have a website and won't be making sales over the internet,
it's still important for people to be able to find your business with a simple
search. If your name is too common, that will be close to impossible.
Does
your company name mean everything? Of course not. But if you apply these ideas,
you should at least come up with a name that does not destroy your business before
you even get started. Learn from other peoples mistakes. Sure, you will make your
own mistakes. Blaze a new trail in business naming errors if you want to. But
as many wise people have pointed out over the ages, to fail to learn from history
is to doom yourself to repeating it.
NBA
Benefit Provider - BizFilings
NBA
Resource Article - Brand
Awareness Basics
NBA
Resource Article - Do You Have
a Plan?
Reprint
of this article does not constitute an endorsement by the National Business Association;
the article is for informational purposes for our members and viewers of our Web
site.
