What on Earth should I call my business name? I can’t think of anything interesting!
I once thought the exact same words but overtime as I let my creativity flourish, it just became easier over time coming up with names and brands. I swear at times I thought about just using one of those dumb name generators… Yea, those kinds of online tools may not always yield the best results especially if your business is ver niche.
So the question has to be asked, how do you come up with a business name? A good one, too!
There are several key points to keep in mind when coming up with a business name. So what are they?
- Relatable
- Rolls off the tongue
- Catchy
- Creative
- Colors
- Availability
RELATABLE
What do I mean by relatable? Well I don’t mean relatable as in watching a meme on TikTok and thinking “ooohh my gawd, that’s soooo meee :3”. No, no, no… Relatable as in the name goes with the type of business itself. You aren’t going to start a construction company and call it Steve’s Bar, are you?
Think of words that have in some form have a relation to the subject, write down keywords that describe your work. In our example of a landscaping company, we want to think green, beautiful, and high quality.
ROLLS OFF THE TONGUE
The last thing that I want to do when searching for a business that can accomplish a job for me is trying to pronounce a tongue-twister… Your name should be easy to pronounce, the easier it is to pronounce the more memorable it can be to clients or the public (more on that later).
Let’s take for example some big brands like Google and Coca-Cola. Take a second and say “Google”, now say it again, and again. Did you struggle saying it? Probably not, right? Now do the same for Coca-Cola. You feel how those names just roll off the tongue when you say them out loud? That is what you want for a business name, something simple and easy to pronounce.
Granted, in some cases there will be business names that may be a bit longer like landscaping or construction names, if you so wish it to be. However, you should keep in mind that it is best to keep names between 1-3 words long.
CATCHY
Think of the best coffee place in your area? Don’t drink coffee? Well what place comes to mind when it comes to getting coffee on-the-go? Me for example, the first name that comes to mind is… Starbucks! Maybe even Dunkin-Donuts! Never mind coffee, what about food in general? What is a fast food joint that is always packed? For me, hands down would be Chick-Fil-A. Notice something about these brand names not only in the way they are spelled or the words, but how does it sound when you say them out loud? It’s catchy! Some may even be fun to say at times, if you’re weird like that.
Catchy names become very memorable for people and that is what you want. You want a name that is easy to remember and most importantly, turns those heads!
CREATIVE
I believe this is the part where many people can get stuck at times, being creative about your name. But one thing for sure that you should know and might like, is that brand names do not need to follow grammar rules!
Grammarly and Chick-Fil-A to name a few, are spelled so wrong and so weird I’m sure you have wondered how they can even get away with it. When being creative with your business name or brand, don’t be afraid to do a play on words or spell your business or brand in an… unorthodox way.
COLORS
Did you know that colors play mind tricks on you? Yep, that’s right! Picking the right colors are extremely important when coming up with your brand and especially the logo.
Have you ever noticed that a lot of tech brands have blue in them? Intel, Dell and HP – they’re all blue. What about landscaping or nature brands? Ever noticed a lot of them use the color green? There is psychology involved when picking your business and brand colors. Perhaps use this as a personal template for choosing your colors.
AVAILABILITY
Probably one of the most important parts when coming up with your brand name, or perhaps finalizing your choice.
… Is it available?
Since I am in the USA, I would refer to the state comptroller for availability. If you plan on basing your business or brand in a different state, then you would have to check availability in that state.
One other fun little tactic I like to use is to simply Google my business name idea! Not only can you check for uniqueness but you can also see if there is competition with that same name. The last thing you want is to be at the bottom of the list with 20 other identical business or brand names…
TIME TO BRAND!
Now for the fun part!
We will come up with a name for our fictitious landscaping company using all of the tips we have covered in this post. So let’s begin!
Hmm… Landscaping… What comes to mind? Green, grass and beauty.
- Vista Pastures Landscaping
- Terraria Landscaping
- Green Vista Landscaping
- Constructorama
- Panorama Construction
- Green Season
Great! Now that we have a short list of ideas, let’s dissect them and see which one(s) rolls off the tongue better. Shall we?
- Vista Pastures Landscaping
- Constructorama
- Green Season
- Terraria Landscaping
Remember, having a chance to going viral requires something catchy – it is an attention economy after all.
- Constructorama
- Green Season
- Terraria Landscaping
It’s all about creativity, right? Turning heads and catching people’s eye. Honestly, I really like both of these last choices but “Constructorama” sounds more like construction than landscaping… “Terraria Landscaping” could land us in a lawsuit but eeehhhh, I’ll take my chances!
- Constructorama
- Terraria Landscaping
Let’s go with Terraria Landscaping!
Green!
Without a thought, green should be our first inclination as a main color for our brand logo. But our entire logo should not only be green, right?
Let’s refer back to our color slides and see what other colors we can add to the mix.
- Green – Nature
- White – Cleanliness
I think those 2 are a great mix!
Ok, ok… We all know Terraria is a video game. So us coming up in search results may be a bit difficult. Of course, if someone is searching Google Maps then that is a different story!
Searching through Google Maps in my area, I don’t see much conflict of interest as far as names go.
Last would be to check the Texas comptroller which is what matters the most.
Looks like we’re in the clear!
