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Starting a company can be a lot of fun as you iron out the details of your offerings and what sets you apart from the competition. Developing a name for your startup allows you to explore clever ways to relate to your products, services, and market; but before you settle on the perfect name, be sure to do your due diligence first. Here are 5 tips on generating a name for your startup.
1. Pick a Name That Isn’t Limiting
As your business grows and you offer new products or services, you want to make sure your name also has potential for growth. For instance, if you have a lawn care product but plan to expand to plant care, you want to make sure that your name can encompass both product categories, so choose something broad enough to represent a budding future.
2. Get Feedback
Once you come up with about a dozen names you like, crowdsource your family, friends, colleagues, and possibly your customers. They will be the first to tell you if any names are hard to say out loud or read, and they might also let you know which ones they like and find catchy.
3. Search the Web
After you narrow down your potential names, research must begin. Search online to see if other companies are using your name or something similar. Find out if it is already in use or associated with something that you would never want your business to be mistaken for.
4. Look up Federally Registered Trademarks
Before you apply, you can use the USPTO’s site (United States Patent and Trademark Office) to search the trademark database (Trademark Electronic Search Systems, or TESS). You will be able to find out if any trademarks like yours have already been registered or applied for, used on related products/services, and are live (filed and active).
If your trademark aspirations meet those three criteria, it’s likely that you will be going back to the drawing board. You would also never want your trademark to conflict with another business that has similar products/services. Check out what happened to The South Butt, a parody of the popular outdoor apparel brand, The North Face.
5. Consider Your Domain Name and Social Media Handle (or @Name)
What the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA.gov) won’t tell you is that beyond a domain name, you also need to consider your social media handles and @names. It is nice to have a 1:1:1 match with your entity name, domain name, and social media handle/@name, but it isn’t a deal breaker if they cannot all be the same.
Consider a clever way to position your handle to reflect your brand and services. For instance, when AG Marketing Solutions couldn’t claim the same handle as our domain, we didn’t call defeat, we got clever. Everyone in the company pitched in and we came up with something that really speaks for what we do, @solutionsbyagm.
After all of that, there might be state or local rules to consider with registering your business. Be sure to consult an attorney before coining your new entity name.
For more help establishing and marketing your startup, contact AG Marketing Solutions at info@agmsolutions.com.
