Your new business name - before you start
So a few things with choosing a business name that helps brand you quickly and bring in the bucks.
The 3 things you'll want to remember
- Make it catchy, memorable and short like Style My Space
- Your name should SCREAM what you do very clearly like The Pet Sitters
- EVERYONE searches the internet for businesses these days. Chances are you will need a website. Make sure the dot com is available for your name without extra words, hyphens, underscores, etc. Even when your name is ebay, then ebay.com needs to be available. Who would remember to type in ebay_store.biz?
How to develop your new business name
If you will want to go into other segments of an industry, you will want to have a name that attracts that client base as well. I made the mistake when I launched my home staging and design business of naming myself Prepared to Sell Home Staging.
At the time, I didn't realize I would want to eventually service other sectors of the market. When I reached that point in my business where I wanted to expand my services, I had to ask myself why I wasn't getting any clients. It took me a while to realize that home owners that are not for sale but wanted to redesign their home or receive advice on remodeling their home wouldn't call a designer whose business name was Prepared to Sell. And really, what does Prepared to Sell mean? I could have been teaching a sales class with a name like that.
So I decided I wasn't doing myself any favors and changed my name to Style My Space which was not only costly, but confusing to my current clients and I feel like I lost some business along the way. Suffice to say, picking the perfect name from the beginning can be hard and time consuming but worth it in the end.
In hind sight, I have a few suggestions to picking a business name that is right for you.
First decide what you elements you want your business to portray. Is it fun, business"y" or sophisticated? Then determine what words are in alignment with the way you want your business name to feel and write them all down. Keep working with this list until you have a combination that rmeets the above requirements and rolls off the tongue.
The best name is a catchy name because it's easy to remember, helps brand your business and should reflect what your business is about immediately without pigeon-holing you into one market segment. Don't forget, the dot com needs to be available without any extra words, hyphens or underscores that no one will remember to type in. If you're not on the first page of Google, at least if you have the dot com to a catchy name, some people who have met you in the past may still be able to find you even if they can't find your business card. To see if a dot com is available, go to http://www.godaddy.com to search for available domain names.
Kim Kapellusch is the owner of Style My Space Home Staging & Design and currently teaches the Premier Home Staging Certification Course at The Academy of Home Staigng in Los Angeles. For more information, visit the sites at http://www.StyleMySpace.com and http://www.TheAcademyOfHomeStaging.com.
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