Factors to Consider When Putting Together a Business Name Ideas List

Finding the right business name is important for companies big and small. It’s wise to put together a business name ideas list with your best prospective candidates. From there, you can narrow down the list until you ultimately find the name that will work for you and your business. You can use Namify to start building a business name ideas list. That said, you want to consider some factors while assembling the list.

The Basics of a Business Name

First, you want to make sure that the names on your name idea list are unique. Let’s say there’s a John Smith operating a plumbing business, say in Atlanta or Chicago. If there is already a “Smith Plumbing” in these cities, John probably should look at different names. Otherwise, potential customers could get confused and end up going to his competitors. There are also copyright issues to consider.

Your name should also clearly imply or demonstrate what your business is about. With “Smith’s Plumbing”, you immediately know that it’s a plumbing company. If you’re looking for a plumber and come across this name, you can feel confident contacting them and that you’ll speak with a plumber. If the company was simply called “Smith’s” on the other hand, you’d have no way of knowing what it’s about. It might be a restaurant, shoe store, or business consulting firm.

Specifics are good as well. Let’s say John Smith, our plumber, likes working on commercial projects and doesn’t do residential projects. In this case, something like “Smith Commercial Plumbing” is smart. Adding “commercial” makes it easier to determine what the business is about.

How About Geography?

If you run a brick-and-mortar business it’s also smart to consider names with geographical indicators. An electrician in New York City, say Joe Doe, might name his business “NYC Electricians”, or “Brooklyn Electricians.” However, if Mr. Doe later expands his business onto Long Island or into New Jersey. He may need to change his name to reflect the markets he operates in.

Likewise, many companies now operate online. If you own a shoe store in Brooklyn, it often makes sense to use Brooklyn or New York in the name. Same for Detroit, Miami, and other cities. But if your shoe store operates primarily online, you may want to choose a name that’s not geographically specific.

Homing in on the Right Name

As you can see, there are a lot of factors to consider. However, you don’t need to make the final decision while putting your business name ideas list together. Instead, you can start by coming up with a variety of names. From there, you can weigh the pros and cons of each name. You can also use business name generators to come up with more ideas.

When coming up with names, make sure you check for trademark and copyright issues. You should also see if you can find the website domain for your business name. If you want to run a shoe store and your last name is Smith, there’s a good chance that smithsshoes.com is already taken. Besides domain names, also make sure you check for social media profiles. There may be a number of companies and organizations with a name similar to yours. And they may have taken the most obvious social media handles.

Coming up with a good business name will take some time and effort. Name-generating tools like Namify can help you build a business name ideas list. Either way, it’s important that you get the name right as it’ll often be the first impression people get of your business. And remember, first impressions are important.