While kick starting your business, picking a unique business name is one of the first and most important tasks for you.
Your business name should be an indication of what your business does for your target audience. They also tend to assess the quality and appearance of your business/product based on its name.
For instance, people who have not yet seen or heard about Urban Ladder can sense that it sells modern furniture.
Editor’s note: Once you have your name sorted, put your new business online in less than 5 minutes with Online Starter Bundle.
5 rules for naming a business properly
Here are a few rules to guide you with the process of picking a good name:
- Is easy to remember.
- Hints at what you do.
- Won’t limit future growth .
- Is available.
- You are happy with it.
Be sure to set aside a good amount of time and ensure you pick the perfect one. After all, you will live with this choice for the life of your business.
Unique business names in India
Before we get into our naming rules, let’s start by looking at a few unique business names of recent startups in India:
Coolberg
Coolberg, a Mumbai-based startup, produces handcrafted non-alcoholic beers. Since 2016, Coolberg has been making parties and gatherings easier for non-alcoholic friends/family with a range of flavours.
Shuttl
Shuttle is an app-based minibus public transportation service for commuters. Founded in 2015, the service provides a hassle-free and convenient travel option.
Doctalk
This app was developed in Mumbai in 2016. It stores and shares medical reports and prescriptions with doctors, allowing patients to skip the hassle of an in-person visit.
Treebo
Treebo is an Indian budget hotel chain that operates on franchising. Since launching in 2015, it has grown to more than 350 hotels in 80 cities in India.
CoWrks
In 2016, CoWrks was founded to offer fully furnished and managed coworking spaces at affordable pricing in India. The company has locations in Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Hyderabad and Chennai.
You would have observed how simple and at the same time appealing the above-mentioned business names are. Choosing a unique business name is not that difficult — you just need to follow a few rules.
Related: Where do you turn for company name suggestions?
5 rules for choosing a unique business name
Yes, many good names have already been trademarked. But there still are a lot of cool business names no one has thought of. Check out the online business name suggestion tools in this post to get started.
1. Is easy to remember
The most common mistake that businesses make while choosing a business name is coming up with something too difficult.
The easier your business name is to pronounce, spell, share and remember the better it is for your business.
Try to keep your business name short and avoid all the:
- Useless acronyms
- Complex or jumbled-up words
- Numbers and hyphens
Few examples of unique and easy names are Paytm, Zomato and ClearDekho.
Should you go abstract?
Abstract names are in trend as they are catchy and unusual. These names also provide the flexibility to sell anything under them.
But to fix the abstract names in your customers’ minds takes a huge amount of time and cost. Examples of abstract business names are Kodak, Pepsi and Google.
2. Hints at what you do
The more your name communicates to the audience, the less effort you have to take to explain it.
Thus, try to include information about what your business does in your business name. This will also make it easier for your potential customers to find your business on search engines.
For instance:
- Ola Cabs is an Indian transportation network company offering cab services.
- FreshMenu is a food delivery service.
Just by looking at their names, we can guess their offerings.
Don’t try to include all information about your products in your business name. Just try to convey the main idea.
For example, if you are starting a pharmacy business, think about using words like cure, medication, fit or healthy.
3. Won’t limit future growth
A business owner would not like to have a business name that could create a hurdle in its business growth. Hence, before finalising your business name, always think about the future.
Avoid using a specific place in your business name. Business expansion or change in business location may become a problem in business growth.
The same applies to the products or services you provide. If you intend to expand your business offerings in the future, try not to make the name too specific.
For example, perhaps your company makes women’s clothes but in the future, you might try to capture the male market as well. Then having a business name like ‘The Modern Woman’ wouldn’t be helpful.
4. Is available
As a part of your business name generation process, it is important to check what names are already registered. The Government of India maintains a database on this here.
Also in the internet era, you must check available domain names before agreeing on a business name. The domain name will become your website address.
Type in a business name you like to see if the matching domain name is available:
Make sure to get a domain name that matches your business name or else it could create confusion for your customers.
5. You are happy with it
It is also very important that you like your business name, only then you will feel confident about putting it out into the world. Hence, try to assess several options and spend enough time and energy to come up with a unique business name.
Conclusion
The last thing to remember is that unique business names can’t totally make or break any business, but they definitely can have a powerful impact.
The right name acts as a foundation on which you will build your business.
Hence, try to get the right name to make sure your business is off to a great start.
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