What’s in the name?
A few must read pointers before you give your baby (startup) a name
I think this is my first article at Rodinhoods and I will try to make it as meaningful for as many as possible.
Needless to say, the views presented are my personal but draw heavily from copywriting work that I have done in the past. These assignments have been paid as well as voluntary assignments for many individual clients as well as for various larger entities. Moving to the main content…..
The time that you want to dedicate for naming your entity /setup/startup deserves as much time and thought as much you are willing to invest in it. What I mean is that the ‘Name‘ in itself may not be considered determinant in deciding the success of your business (no single aspect in a business ever is). However with a lot business having parallel presence online, The Name of the company does more than just being the Text that is on top of your Invoice, purely from utilitarian angle, it can
1) Aid your SEO Efforts a great deal, if you are online .
2) It gives you and your business identity
3) It forms perception about product and the people running the show.
4) It can serve as an introduction for the product/s and service/s that your company specialises, thereby lead generation.
5) If the name is Interesting one , it can be good conversation starter . 🙂
So here are a few ways you can consider naming your firm.
A) THY Name is THY Work.
This type of name simply is a combination of some creative element with the core product or service that your company offers. A few examples : Our in-house mentor – Alok sirs site games2win.com and his first site contests2win.com , my own site theskinmantra.com ( dealing in Laptop Skins in India ) , bigbazaar , mega mart, makemytrip , Match Maker ( local matrimonial services), Fitness Forever, Crossword, Khana Khazaana . And this list can go on.
As you can see, in most of the cases, one doesn’t even have to mention what product or service is being offered. The examples that I gave or Online as well as Offline businesses, so it’s pretty much universal
It’s also safest bet for naming. The biggest advantage one has here is that you cannot go wrong with this one. You may not be able to spread your creative wings, but it will make sense to everybody and gives an introduction of the product even when the context is missing. For Instance company name such as ‘Fitness Forever’ mentioned wherever will always be associated with Health related services or product.
So you name your company in this manner if:
1) You are very sure the product/service your company will offer. ( not being able to scale up or expand because of the name will sound silly or funny or lazy or all of these)
2) You do not want to give too much exercise to your right brain.
3) If you are online then this will certainly help you with SEO and Instant Recognition.
B) MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE – Name
These types of names may or may not have any relation with the owner or the business they represent. They are just meant to stir some intrigue and attention in the mind. Eg Godaddy.com – the famous domain registrar. . Neither its name nor its TV commercials have anything to do with its Web Business activities. It has just done one thing with its name and other PR activities: ‘GRAB Attention’. And if you ask any analyst it has paid rich dividends for them. Our Indian counterpart directi has attempted something similar with the name bigrock.com. Few more examples Zapakk, kyazoonga, boombastic (a youth accessories in Mumbai), Mango clothing line, Junglee.com, Apple ( somewhat)
This Kind of name can work well if
1) You can keep the customer with great content or product after having grabbed his attention. The negative publicity can go viral and the unique ‘Name’ can fast become a topic of ridicule.
2) Somehow such names work well with the younger audience as the target customer and the when the service/product being offered is not conventional. ( not always though)
3) Most Importantly: You can carry it off. Be prepared to be asked a lot of questions like ‘’yeh naam kya soch ke rakha? ’’ etc.
C) The Legacy Factor Name
Here you want to take advantage of the legacy of the City /Place( Bengal Sweets) or a Family name (Nirula Chain of Fast Food joints) that has specialized in a product or service over a period of time. These are most often found in offline traditional businesses but no reason it cannot be done online.
Here the desired effect of the name is compounded if the noun that you are associating with has been linked to the product or service since a very long time. In short if the name acts as a Brand
Let me explain:
Once on a trip to UK, I was roaming on the streets of Wembley which has a large Indian Settlement. A regular electronics store owned by an Indian Guy (originally from Delhi) caught my attention. The store’s name : ‘’Bombay Electronics ‘’. Naturally curious I inquired with the owner, the logic behind the name in a foreign location. His non minced reply was that he primarily was catering to Indians settled there. And at the time he had migrated i.e. late 80s , Mumbai ( then Bombay ) had a commendable reputation for electronics where as Delhi although was quite a hub but was considered ‘Jugaadu’ . No way was the shop associated with Importing or exporting goods from Mumbai or Delhi, but the name itself gave a perception of being Specialized Shop for Quality Electronics. Now if I were to extend the similar discussion to Business of let’s say Fast Food Centers, I bet a name such as ‘’Delhi Chaat House’’ would work much better than Random Fast Food Place.
The market is filled with such names associated with Businesses of all sizes. A few such Eg: Banaras Panwala, Gwalior Suitings, Haldirams Snacks (started with a shop in Rajasthan), California Almonds, London Pilsner (beer), SWATCH (short for Swiss watch) , Mini Punjab : Chain of restraunts, Mainland China (Chinese food), Assam Tea, Texas Instruments, Irish Pub/s.
D) The Poetic/Metephoric/Pun Name:
As you would have guessed, this is the most creative type. The name of the company has very distant or metaphoric association with the business. This is much better explained with a few examples ‘’Final Touch ‘’ name of an Interior Designing firm.
Cuts’n’Curves – Name of a Gymnasium. Jazz by the Bay. – Famous Sea facing Pizza Place in South Mumbai. Grandeur – Chain of Luxury Spas. Liberty Footwear , Google.com – Dont need to explain.
A good idea might be to include a tag line telling a bit more about the product or services one offers. Eg: ‘Scissors : The Best Salon there is’ . The Name ‘Scissors’ in isolated here would not really give away much about the business , but with the tag line it serves pretty good purpose .
As you can see, these kind of names serve a dual purpose of indirectly indicating the underlying business, while also giving the name a chance to be classy and creative. Owing to the figures of speech involved, they impart the business an identity which can prove to be truly unique and distinctive as the business grows, across geographies and otherwise.
One caveat though. You might want to make sure to not go too far in flexing your creative muscles. In which case the name might end up looking really really ‘pun’ny, and you might be the only one knowing how it could indicate any connection with your business. Your target customer base in most cases would want some interesting ‘twist’, but in moderation.
Well that’s all I can think of!
For ‘creative type’ Business owner, the naming is sorta a Big Deal and calls for 2-3 brain storming sessions, however I wanted to cover the raw base that should ideally go behind naming the company. I usually cringe at the sight of banal and commonplace names even for quite unique businesses. .( yes you can hire me . 😉 )
Feeling a bit lazy to conclude this long article, but I hope I have been able to stimulate the readers’ entrepreneurial pangs along these lines, and that this would encourage you to give it ‘some more thought’ before you decide to impart an identity to your brainchild. Please post your feedbacks and comments in the form of your suggestions, additions or reviews. Looking forward to hear from you!
In case your need any personal feedback or advice on something similar , please feel free to connect @
akashds.sachdev@gmail.com /akash@theskinmantra.com
facebook.com/akash.sachdev
