When starting up a new business, one of the first things you have to do is choosing a suitable name for your company.
Choosing a name for your business is a creative and enjoyable process, but it’s not easy. A name does more than just identify your company. It tells customers who you are, what you do, and how you do it.
Definition: Business name is a name or title under which a person, or other legal entity, trades.
Choosing Business (Company) Name
There's no common formula for picking a great business name. The best name depends on many things: from the kind of business you do to your own taste and style. There are, however, a few guidelines that will help you choose the right name.
- Your company name should be unique and memorable enough to attract customers. Also, it should be recognizable to show what nature of your business is.
- Be unique, but be simple in the description. Don’t choose the complicated names that are not easily pronounced.
- Name or at least suggest what you offer (what kind of services, products, etc.) but avoid patterns, or if you’ll use patterned business words, at least make combination with some other interesting words to get the perfect combination.
- Do a little search among your competitors’ names to avoid similarities.
Also, to pick the best name for your business, ask yourself these few questions:
- Do you want the name to reflect what your business does – selling, cleaning, building? Or you would love something more abstract?
- Would including your family name be a good idea?
- Do you want a traditional or a modern name?
Keep in mind that you should:
- Avoid words or phrases that will be outdated soon
- Think about using the name of the city or town in the business name, if you're focusing your service or product on the local market
- Check that the business name doesn't mean anything inappropriate in the certain languages, if your business will be oriented to the foreign countries
- Think about customers and avoid long names, strange words and unusual spelling
- Think about using a name that appears near the beginning of the alphabet and that will ensure an early entry in various advertising directories such as the Yellow Pages.
- Keep your trading name creative, but your corporate name bland to ensure the flexibility to develop other brands and names in the future
- Check if the similar domain name is available for your business website
Registering Business (Company) Name
If the business structure you have chosen is as a sole trader, a partnership or a trust, and not as a company, then you are required to register your business name in the state in which you will operate.
In that case your official business name will be automatically registered when you file your articles of incorporation, articles of organization, or statement of limited partnership with your state filing office.
You don’t need to register a business name if you plan to conduct your business under your or your partner’s first name and surname, or initials and surname.
When a business uses a name that's different from its legal name (for example John Smith named his business 'Lion Royal Machines', that doesn’t contain owners surname 'Smith') it’s been called a fictitious business name. If your business uses a fictitious business name you'll need to register it.
However, registration of a business name does not give you any proprietary rights. Only a trade mark can give you that kind of protection.
What is a trademark?
A trademark (or simply called 'mark') is any word, phrase, design, or symbol used to market a product or service. Owners of trademarks have rights under both federal and state laws that give them the power in many cases to prevent others from using the same or confusingly similar trademarks.
To make sure that your proposed business name won't breach on someone else's existing trademark, you'll have to do a trademark search before you choose and register your name. Also, when picking a business name, you should take care to choose a name that will be likely to receive trademark protection and then take steps to protect your business name as a trademark.
Also, some countries, UK in particular, have a list of sensitive words that cannot be used as a company (business) name. Words like British, Council, Institute, Insurance, Chemist, Health Centre, Parliament, Government, Royal, Queen, Prince, etc. can be used only if you have official permission.
If your business will be based or oriented in foreign countries, then pay attention that those countries don’t have similar types of sensitive words that cannot be used as a company (business) name.
Parallel with business name registration, you should search and register for the website domain name, that will help you in your business and company presentation. Name of the business (company) website should be the same or as much similar as possible as your company name, with relevant extension you choose (.com, .net, .org, .biz, etc.)
Finally, once you completed a complex task of choosing and registering your company name, you are ready to present it, together with your business to your future customers.
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