How to Choose a Name for Your Business

When the owner of a wellness practice contacted me for help with her brand, one of the first things she brought up was that she'd been running her business without an official name.

She wanted a professional looking brand identity and website but was stumped on what to call it. 

After going through my proprietary brand naming process, I came up with Zuna Wellness. Zuna means 'sun' in a foreign language. The sun was one of the symbols and keywords we defined during her BrandStorm™ session, along with health, vitality, life force, fresh food, and others. She loved it!

Naming a business can be as simple as naming it after yourself (which I recommend if you're building a personal brand) or a confusing and complicated endeavor. Which is why people hire me to help them.

Here are 6 things to consider when choosing a name for your business:

1. Your brand strategy. During my BrandStorm strategy sessions, we dive into what's important to communicate to your clients. Your name should embody these things. If you skip this step, you might choose a name that doesn't really make sense or may not appeal to your target audience.

2. Is the name legally available? If someone in a similar industry has the name, you may not legally have the right to use it. You may need the help of a lawyer to determine this but there are resources I typically check for you first.

3. Does it sound cool? I had a drawing teacher in college who said, "If it looks dumb, don't draw it." Same rule applies for picking a name for your business. I'm sometimes astounded by some of the stupid business names I hear out there.

4. Will it resinate with your target audience? I had a client once who wanted to call her business "Ruby Slipper Coaching" because she loved the story of Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz having the power to get to where she wanted to go all along.

But her target audience was successful corporate business women. That name would have been too cutesy and likely wouldn't attract the right audience. I helped her come up with a more appropriate name that she ended up loving and in hindsight she was so grateful she hired me to help her.

5. Is an appropriate URL and social media handles available? These are things you have to consider in our digital world. It's important to at least consider what else is out there with a similar name to make sure yours will be unique enough to not be confused with someone else.

6. Hire a branding expert. If writing, brainstorming, thinking outside the box and brand strategy are not your strengths, consider hiring someone to help. Naming is one of my specialties and I would be happy to help you! The process always starts with a BrandStorm™.  Schedule a call with me to see if we'd be a good fit to work together.