Choosing a solid business name is critical to your company’s success. Customers are more inclined to consider your goods or services if you have a memorable name that is simple to remember. However, finding a terrific name that no one else has used might be difficult. To assist you, here are five things to consider while naming your firm.
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1. Consider how your product’s name reflects on it.
The more significance you can cram into your business name, the less effort you’ll have to expend persuade them to pay attention to you. Consider carefully what you want your name to convey, according to Entrepreneur. A good name should increase the value of your company.
If you’re having difficulties determining which aspects of your company to highlight, go to your business strategy for inspiration. If you’ve defined your target audiences and created a compelling mission statement, you should be able to utilise that work to decide what your company’s name should express in order to be successful. (For more on performing market research and building a mission statement, see our page on drafting a business plan.
2. Determine if the name is already in use.
The last thing you want is to put in a lot of time and effort into establishing a firm — creating logos and manufacturing business cards — only to discover too late that someone else is using the same name.
So, before forming a company, make sure the name isn’t already in use. Some states enable you to do this online, while others demand that you send in your request. More information may be found on your state’s website (typically the Secretary of State’s website).
More information on determining whether a name is already in use may be found in our blog article on preventing trademark infringement.
3. Determine if the most suitable domain name is already in use.
You want your clients to be able to simply access your company website since it is a terrific tool for growing your business. Make certain that the most apparent domain name linked with your business name is not already in use on a site such as GoDaddy.com.
If the dot-com domain name you choose is not available, you may wish to investigate an other domain name ending – known as generic top-level domains (gTLDs).
In 2013, ICANN announced a domain name system (DNS) initiative that extended on the familiar.com,.org, and.net domain extensions to make domains ending with practically any word in any language accessible.
4. File a trademark application
After you’ve settled on a name, the last step is to register it as a trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Data from 25 years of trademark applications reveal that applicants who utilised a lawyer were 50% more likely than those who did not to get their trademarks authorised by the USPTO.
If your application is refused, you will wind up spending more to reply to a USPTO denial than you would have if you had engaged an attorney to submit the papers in the first place. In addition, an attorney can ensure that your name is correctly registered with state and municipal authorities.