8 Mistakes to Avoid When Naming Your Business

January
14, 2020

9 min learn

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their very own.

Naming a enterprise is lots like laying the cornerstone of a constructing. As soon as it is in place, the complete basis and construction are aligned to that unique stone. If it is off, even only a bit, the remainder of the constructing is off, and the misalignment turns into amplified.

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So when you’ve got that gnawing sense that selecting a reputation in your new enterprise is vitally necessary, you are proper. Having had intensive expertise within the naming and branding enterprise, I’ve witnessed the great, the unhealthy and the actually unhealthy. That will help you get off to a great begin, learn on to find the highest eight errors I’ve discovered that individuals make in terms of selecting a reputation for his or her enterprise.

Mistake #1: Getting the “committee” concerned in your determination

We reside in a democratic society, and that looks like the best factor to do: involving everybody (your pals, household, staff and purchasers) in an necessary determination. This method, nonetheless, presents a couple of issues. The primary and most blatant truth is that you will find yourself selecting just one title, so that you threat alienating the very folks you are making an attempt to contain. Second, you may usually find yourself with a consensus determination, which ends up in a really protected, very vanilla title.

A greater technique is to contain solely the important thing decision-makers — the less the higher — and choose solely the folks you are feeling have the corporate’s finest pursuits at coronary heart. The necessity for private recognition can skew outcomes, so you may be finest served by those that can park their egos on the door. Additionally, be sure to have some right-brain varieties within the combine. Get too many left brains on board, and your title will probably find yourself too literal and descriptive.

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Mistake #2: Using the “practice wreck” technique of making a reputation

When compelled to provide you with a catchy title, many aspiring entrepreneurs merely take a part of an adjective and weld it onto a noun, primarily colliding the 2 phrases head-on to create a brand new phrase. The outcomes are names which have a sure twisted rationale to them, however look and sound terrible.

Somebody beginning a high-end, service franchise turns into “QualiServe.” Somebody beginning a cultured day spa turns into “TranquiSpa.” It’s kind of like mixing chocolate syrup with ketchup; there’s nothing flawed with both ingredient, however they only do not go collectively. Different frequent truncations embody Ameri, Tech, Corpand Tron. The issue with this method is that it is merely compelled. And it sounds that means.

Mistake #3: Utilizing phrases so plain they will by no means stand out in a crowd

The primary firm in a class can get away with this one. Therefore, you will have Basic Motors, Basic Electrical and so forth. However after getting competitors you want differentiation. Think about if Yahoo! had come out as “GeneralInternetDirectory.com”? The title could be way more descriptive however hardly memorable. And, with the onslaught of latest media and promoting channels, it is extra necessary than ever to carve out your area of interest by displaying your uniqueness. Nothing does that higher than a well-conceived title.

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Mistake #4: Taking the atlas method and utilizing a map to call your organization.

Within the zeal to begin a brand new firm, many companies select to make use of their metropolis, state or area as a part of their firm title. Whereas this may occasionally truly assist to start with, it usually turns into a hindrance as an organization grows. One consumer got here to me with complaints that he was serving extra of the market than his title implied. He had aptly known as his enterprise St. Pete Plumbing since he hailed from St. Petersburg, Fla. However Yellow Web page consumers assumed that was additionally his complete service space. With somewhat inventive tinkering, we modified the picture of St. Pete from a metropolis to St. Peter himself, full with wings and a plumber’s wrench. The brand new tagline? “We work miracles!”

Associated: What’s in a Identify? For a Enterprise . . . Oh, The whole lot.

Many different firms have struggled with the identical concern. Minnesota Manufacturing and Mining was rising past its business and its state. To keep away from limiting it development, it turned 3M, an organization now recognized for innovation. Kentucky Fried Hen is now KFC, de-emphasizing the regional nature of the unique title. Each of those firms made strategic strikes to keep away from stifling their development. Study from them, and you will keep away from this potential bottleneck from the start.

Mistake #5: Turning your title right into a cliche

When you’re previous the literal, descriptive phrase decisions, you may possible discover your hought course of turning to metaphors. These might be nice if they don’t seem to be overly used to the purpose of being trite. For instance, since many firms consider themselves as prime of their business, the world is filled with names like Summit, Apex, Pinnacle, Peak and so forth. Whereas there’s nothing inherently flawed with these names, they’re overworked. As an alternative, search for mixtures of constructive phrases and metaphors, and you will be significantly better served. A very good instance is the info storage firm Iron Mountain, a reputation that conveys power and safety with out sounding commonplace.

Mistake #6: Making your corporation title so obscure, clients won’t ever know what it means

It is nice for a reputation to have a particular that means or significance: It units up a narrative that can be utilized to inform the corporate message. But when the reference is just too obscure or too laborious to spell and pronounce, you might by no means have the chance to talk to clients as a result of they will merely move you by as irrelevant.

So, resist the urge to call your organization after the legendary Greek god of quick service or the Latin phrase for “We’re primary!” If a reputation has a pure, intuitive sound and a particular that means, it might probably work. If it is too complicated and puzzling, it would stay a thriller to your clients. That is very true when you’re reaching out to a mass viewers.

Associated: The Significance of Naming Your Enterprise to Entice the Proper Prospects

I pushed the envelope somewhat on this one myself, naming my branding agency Tungsten after the metallic that Thomas Edison used to create mild. However as a result of my purchasers encompass educated professionals who admire a great metaphor and anticipate a branding agency to have a narrative behind its title, I knew it will work. It is also a technique to differentiate my providers: illuminated, shiny, and sensible. However whereas one thing “completely different” may work for a branding agency, it would not work as properly for extra frequent companies, like an ice cream parlor or an auto physique store.

Mistake #7: Taking the Campbell’s soup method to choosing a reputation

Pushed by the necessity for an identical area title, many firms have resorted to awkwardly constructed or purposefully misspelled names. The outcomes are firm names that sound extra like prescribed drugs than real-life companies. Mistake No. 2 generally will get mixed with this one and leads to a reputation like KwaliTronix. It is wonderful how good some names start to sound after you’ve got been trying to find out there domains all evening. However resist the urge. Keep away from utilizing a “Ok” instead of a “Q” or a “Ph” instead of an “F.” This makes spelling the title — and finding you on the web — all that a lot more durable.

And it is not that coined or invented names cannot work; they usually do. Take, for instance, Xerox or Kodak. However maintain it thoughts that names like these don’t have any intrinsic or linguistic that means, in order that they rely closely on promoting to convey their that means, and that will get costly. Most of the firms that efficiently use this method had been both first of their class or have giant advertising budgets. Verizon, as an illustration, spent tens of millions on its rebranding effort. So did Accenture. So examine your pocketbook earlier than you enterprise into all these names.

Mistake #8: Selecting the flawed title after which refusing to alter it

Many enterprise homeowners know they’ve an issue with their title and simply hope it would someway magically resolve itself. The unique firm title of considered one of my purchasers, as an illustration, was “Portables,” which reminded some folks of port-a-potties or moveable school rooms -neither of which was correct nor one thing the enterprise proprietor wished to be related to.

This added to the confusion when gross sales reps tried to clarify their new idea of shifting and storage. After some cautious tweaking, we got here up with the title PODS, an acronym for Moveable on Demand Storage. The remainder is shortly turning into historical past as the corporate has expanded each nationally and internationally.

Mike Harper of Huntington Seaside, Calif., purchased a 30-year previous janitorial and constructing upkeep firm named Regency. We each agreed it sounded extra like a downtown movie show than a progressive amenities administration agency. After an intensive naming search, we developed the title Spruce Services Administration. “Spruce” not solely conveyed the environmentally pleasant picture of a spruce tree, one thing necessary to the consumer, it additionally meant “to wash up.” The brand new tagline fell proper in place: Spruce…”The Everclean Firm.”

It is solely a matter of time earlier than different firms which have efficiently outgrown their unique markets start to query their positioning. Take into consideration “Burlington Coat Manufacturing unit.” Retailer Burlington truly dropped the “coat” from its title to place itself as a division retailer, not only a coat retailer.

Very like 3M and KFC, these firms are altering to maintain tempo with their development and picture.

Within the fever to begin your new enterprise or broaden a present one, take time to assume by a few of these points. By tapping into your creativity and avoiding these potential pitfalls, you’ll create a reputation that works for each the quick and long run. Like the unique cornerstone of a constructing, it would help upward growth as your organization reaches new heights.