Choosing a name for a new Business
It is harder than you imagine!
First
Do you want the name to describe what the business does or are you going to give the business a name which is unrelated to the type of business you run.
"The London Cleaning Company" is very descriptive and leaves little doubt as to what the company does.
The benefit is that it is easy to market. Advertising the company and the business activity simultaneously.
The negative aspect is that if you also wanted to offer a service or product unrelated to cleaning you may be struggling. Sandwiches from the London cleaning company sounds bizarre.
Alternatively
You might go for example "Renaissance" as a company name and then market the cleaning activity of the business around that name.
The benefit is that Renaissance can offer lots of different business activities and the name of the company is not linked to any.
The negative is that Renaissance is not that memorable and in your marketing you would have to link Renaissance with Cleaning or Renaissance with Computers or Renaissance with web development.
A nice name but it does not describe any business activity. Marketing for this type of name is usually more expensive and harder.
Examples of the two approaches would be "British Oxygen Corporation" and Virgin.
Second
Try to avoid a name that could be offensive.
For example a dog boarding kennel called "Bitches". Yes it does exist. OK it is related to dogs, it is quite memorable but many people will find the name offensive.
Also be aware that words can be offensive in other languages.
Rolls Royce had a car called the "Silver Mist" in the 70's. Fine for the UK and US but in Germany "Mist" means manure to put it nicely.
Third
The longer the name the more expensive it is to reproduce.
You may think this is crazy but type face costs money and if you have got vans to paint then they charge by the letter.
As a side issue the more colours that you have in a logo or name the more expensive it is.
Summary
You may lose the goodwill, it costs money but you can always change the name of a business.
First
Do you want the name to describe what the business does or are you going to give the business a name which is unrelated to the type of business you run.
"The London Cleaning Company" is very descriptive and leaves little doubt as to what the company does.
The benefit is that it is easy to market. Advertising the company and the business activity simultaneously.
The negative aspect is that if you also wanted to offer a service or product unrelated to cleaning you may be struggling. Sandwiches from the London cleaning company sounds bizarre.
Alternatively
You might go for example "Renaissance" as a company name and then market the cleaning activity of the business around that name.
The benefit is that Renaissance can offer lots of different business activities and the name of the company is not linked to any.
The negative is that Renaissance is not that memorable and in your marketing you would have to link Renaissance with Cleaning or Renaissance with Computers or Renaissance with web development.
A nice name but it does not describe any business activity. Marketing for this type of name is usually more expensive and harder.
Examples of the two approaches would be "British Oxygen Corporation" and Virgin.
Second
Try to avoid a name that could be offensive.
For example a dog boarding kennel called "Bitches". Yes it does exist. OK it is related to dogs, it is quite memorable but many people will find the name offensive.
Also be aware that words can be offensive in other languages.
Rolls Royce had a car called the "Silver Mist" in the 70's. Fine for the UK and US but in Germany "Mist" means manure to put it nicely.
Third
The longer the name the more expensive it is to reproduce.
You may think this is crazy but type face costs money and if you have got vans to paint then they charge by the letter.
As a side issue the more colours that you have in a logo or name the more expensive it is.
Summary
- A name means different things to different people.
- Do not get too bogged down with choosing a name.
- It is better to start a business with a not so good name then never start it at all because you cannot agree on the name.
You may lose the goodwill, it costs money but you can always change the name of a business.
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