Nov 12 2007
Naming Your Business
What Was That Name Again?
Or, what should I call my business? Choosing a proper name can make a big difference in the success of your new business. Business names that are easily remembered have a better chance of getting word of mouth referrals and customer recognition than names that everyone forgets without fail. Businesses grow and expand because they offer quality services and products and because they enjoy name recognition.
Well then, here are a few pointers to help you come up with a great name for your new venture.
Keep the name short and pronounceable.
- Choose a name that is descriptive of your product/service/location, etc.Â
- Don’t make your name too restrictive. At times, business names reflecting a location might pose a problem in that a move may necessitate a complete new business name, registration, i.e. “Lincoln Street Clinicâ€.
- Consider the alphabetical listing in phone books or professional listings. Does your listing get lost because it is in the middle of 7 pages of listings? Can your customers find you easily? Ever wonder why there are so many businesses using AAA, A1, and so on in their names?
- Avoid cute/clever names, they sometimes backfire…, i.e. “Porky Pine Acupunctureâ€. Think about the image your chosen business name brings to the mind of your potential customers and of course other professionals.
- Consider the meaning of your business name in different languages, particularly if you serve a multilingual population. Marketing history is filled with examples of companies committing gigantic blunders in choosing names for their products that did not translate well at all into a different language.
- Consider how your name will sound when your staff (or you) will answer the phone, on a recording, etc.
Now get out a pad of paper and a pen and let your creative juices flow!
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Excellent points Barbara.
I am learning a lot about business, “after the fact”. If I rated my practice name from 1-10, with 10 being the best, I might give it a 6-7. I have learned a lot about “key words”, regarding the internet and phone books, and marketing. The biggest words that have been found to be associated with health care are: medical, medical clinic, family medicine, family practice, health clinic, clinic, urgent care, immediate care, family doctor.
It is interesting that the word “practitioner” or “provider” is rarely used by the public. And the word “nurse” when googled, brings up mostly “jobs”, and unfortunately not so nice terms like “naughty nurse, and nude nurse”.. it has sexual associations with it.
It is a good point you make about translations of your name into other languages. I do have the word Healing, and hopefully that translates well, but my practice name is a little long to be ideal. It does not fit on signs well. However, I did want it to embody my philosophy which is a blend of traditional medicine, and a holistic integrated approach. Some might interpret it as “Alternative” , which implies Acupuncture, and Naturopathy, but I have only had one or two comments regarding that, and most people seem not to blink, at my name. Most seem to like it.
I did think about the Alphabet, as I am familiar with how advertising starts with “A”. My last name is Anderson, so if I were a physician, I would be listed under my name. But there is not a category in the phone book called “Health Care providers, Medical Clinicians, or Health Care Practitioners”, and even if there were,
I think like the word “Tylenol” is known for acetaminophen, and “Kleenex” is known for all tissue, the universal word people are most familiar with is “Doctor”. So even if we had those categories, unless they took away the physician categories, and put us ALL under another name, the public would not even be aware of what category to look up.
Kind of like using a dictionary, when you do not know how to spell what you are looking up.
Thank you for bringing up this topic, as it is very thought provoking, and those of us new to being entrepreneurs, and self employed are learning, and isn’t that the point of it all? Carla Anderson-Healing Presence Family Practice, PC.
I agree, Barbara. Names make a difference. I’m convinced that HDDVD is going to lose the marketing battle, simply because Blu-Ray Disc is a better name.