Thinking of the right name for your business is one of the most important parts of starting a business. It’s a good idea to spend some time finding a name that is unique, memorable, and reflects what you have to offer your customers.
When I was trying to think of a name for my animal massage business, I gathered a group of friends at a bar and asked them to help me brainstorm. They came up with several ideas, one worse than the other, and I ended up going to bed that night without a single good name to work with. And I woke up the next morning with the perfect (in my opinion) name for my business (Nimble Limbs Animal Massage). Sometimes your brain works better when you leave it alone.
Here are some other ways to create a great name:
1. Grab a dictionary and just flip through. Or watch one online: the interactive visualthesaurus.com is fun to use and displays a “map” of related words for each word you enter.
2. Come up with a slogan for your business (things like “The touch that heals” or “Put spring back in that spaniel”). Sometimes it’s easier to start with that and come up with a name based on that.
3. Write a mission statement. You’ll need one anyway, and you can find the perfect name while you’re thinking about what your business is all about and getting it on paper.
4. Brainstorm with yourself. Write a bunch of words that relate to your business (animal, massage, pet, health, dog, etc.). Pick a word that you know for sure you want in your name, like “pet,” for example. Then try words related to that, like Healthy Pet, Pet Comforts, Pet Pampering, or Pampered Pet (I always like alliteration, the repetition of the first consonant sound in a sentence). Just play with it. Sometimes you’ll find that you don’t want “pet” in the name after all, and that’s okay, it’s part of the process.
5. Go to hoovers.com and look at all the company names listed there; something could trigger an idea.
6. Try different names on domain registration sites (like GoDaddy or Domainsbot.com). Many will suggest other options, and since you’ll probably want a website or blog anyway, it’s a great way to combine your name search with registering a domain name.
7. If you’re completely stuck and don’t mind spending $99, get help from the online community at namethis.com. Simply describe your business, members start brainstorming, and after 48 hours, you’ll be presented with multiple names.
I hope that at least one of the above suggestions will help you find the ideal name for your business. Don’t worry if the process takes several months, it’s an important decision that shouldn’t be rushed.