Your name says a lot about you. In fact, it is the first impression your customers, investors and prospective employees will have about who you are. So choosing the right name is key to both your brand and business success.
Clients ask – what type of name is right? There are many types of names from which to choose. Descriptive names. Coined words. Real words. Completely made-up words. Which you chose is a matter of style. But when choosing the right type of name, style is not as important as function.
Tip #1: Avoid names that are too specific to what you do. Why? Because what you do today may not be what you evolve to be. Take Amazon. Whether or not Jeff Bezos planned for Amazon to become the world’s largest retailer is unclear, but it is. Could it have been if the company had been named something like “Books.com” or “Booksforyou”? Extending into selling “all things” rather than “just books” was, in part, made possible because the name was broad enough to let it stretch into new things.
Tip #2: Avoid names that are too specific to what you promise. The Honest Company put their promise “Honestly safe, effective essentials for family and home” directly in their name. Yet, recent lawsuits around its ingredients and safety of its sunscreen threaten that promise. Now, its valuation and potential IPO are in jeopardy. Many companies weather lawsuits and challenges during the IPO process, but Honest is having a hard time recovering, because the company gives the first impression of honesty.
Your name says a lot about who you are, what you do and what you promise. Choosing the right name is paramount to attracting and retaining customers and employees and getting noticed by investors and the media.