Tips For Choosing Your Business Name

Coming up with a great idea for your business name takes a little more than finding the right combination of words that might be appealing to your potential customers. Make sure that you are creating a moniker that communicates your brand, product, or philosophy to your future customers. Here are a few more tips to help you make sure that it's working for you, not against you.

One of the first things you'll want to do is make sure that your business name isn't already being used by another company. Obviously, you don't want to be confused with any other enterprise, but you also want the opportunity to create a brand identity that is exclusive to you. That's harder to do if you're sharing a name with a company that has nothing to do with you. Use the Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS) to make sure you aren't infringing on someone else's trademark. Not only does this ensure that your business name is unique, it also prevents you from being in the awkward and expensive situation of having to defend yourself in a lawsuit for violating someone else's intellectual property.

The other thing you'll want to consider is whether or not the domain name you are considering is available. With the absolute necessity of having a web presence in today's marketplace, you want a domain name that is easy for customers to remember and doesn't carry the potential of directing them to the wrong place. Plenty of web services let you search to make sure the domain name you want is available. Even if you're not ready to launch your website, you should register your domain name to reserve it for yourself.

Be cautious about clever spelling. Although you may enjoy getting creative with the spelling of a unique business name, and it might be a way to ensure that no one else has it, it also needs to be something that is easy to remember and locate via a simple search. Also, if it's too difficult to spell, your customers aren't usually going to take the several extra steps to find you. Here again, you want to make sure that you can't be confused with another business. If your name sounds too similar to an established business, regardless of how you've spelled it, you could find yourself accused o attempting to capitalize on someone else's good name.

If you've already made a mistake in the name you've chosen, it's probably not too late to change it. It may take some time for existing customers to get used to, but choosing a solid business name will give you a strong foundation on which to build your company.