Thinking of the right name for your business is one of the most important parts of starting a company. It’s a good idea to spend some time finding a name that is unique, memorable, and reflects what you have to offer your customers.
When trying to think of a name for my animal massage business, I gathered a group of friends at a bar and asked them to help me brainstorm. They came up with several ideas, one worse than the other, and I ended up going to bed that night without a single good name to work with. And I woke up the next morning with the perfect (in my opinion) name for my business (Nimble Limbs Animal Massage). Sometimes your brain works better when you leave it alone.
Here are some other ways to create a great name:
1. Grab a dictionary and just flip through. Or check one out online: The visualthesaurus.com interactive is fun to use and displays a “map” of related words for each word you enter.
2. Think of a slogan for your business (things like “The Touch That Heals” or “Spring Back That Poodle”). Sometimes it’s easier to start with that and come up with a name based on that.
3. Write a mission statement. You’ll need one anyway, and you can find the perfect name while you think about what your business is all about and put it down on paper.
4. Brainstorm with yourself. Write a bunch of words that relate to your business (animal, massage, pet, health, dog, etc.). Pick a word that you know for sure you want in your name, like “pet,” for example. Then try words related to that, like Healthy Pet, Pet Comforts, Pet Pampering, or Pampered Pet (I always like alliteration: repeating the first consonant sound in a sentence). Just play with it. Sometimes you’ll realize you don’t want “pet” in the name after all, and that’s okay, it’s part of the process.
5. Go to hoovers.com and look at all the company names listed there; something could trigger an idea.
6. Try different names on domain registration sites (like GoDaddy or Domainsbot.com). Many will suggest other options, and since you’ll probably want a website or blog anyway, it’s a great way to combine your name search with registering a domain name.
7. If you’re completely stuck and don’t mind spending $99, get help from the online community at namethis.com. Simply describe your business, members start brainstorming, and after 48 hours, you’ll be presented with several names.
I hope that at least one of the suggestions above helps you find the ideal name for your business. Don’t worry if the process takes several months, it’s an important decision that shouldn’t be rushed.