Naming Your Company
is
Serious
Business
~Part 2 ~

by

Flora M. Brown, Ph.D.

5. Choose a name that’s easy to pronounce and has immediate meaning.

• The Geek Squad is a 24 hour computer support and repair company that was started in Minnesota by Robert Stephens in 1994. Turning the image of the “geek,” from a negative to a positive, the company continues the metaphor by calling the employees “agents,” their offices “precincts” and having their employees wear specific clothes and a badge, and drive black and white Volkswagen beetles called “Geekmobiles” with their orange and black Geek Squad logo on the door.
  
  6. Check the spelling and punctuation. Check your dictionary, reference source or the most frequently misspelled words at www.yourdictionary.com/library/misspelled.html
  
  Have several people check your business name before you order business cards and brochures. Can you spot the errors in these names?

• Carrie’s Cheese and Cracker’s
• Celebrate Your Occassion
• Tommorrow’s Trends

7. Once you’ve narrowed your choices to a few, search your county office, patent and trademark directory and a domain registry. Even if you’re starting off small, you may grow into a major corporation one day.

There are many ways to go about naming your company. You can even turn the task over to experts, but be ready to plunk down thousands of dollars for large professional naming companies. For companies with major clients, see www.ahundredmonkeys.com , www.interbrand.com or www.thenamingcompany.com. For a discount naming service, consult www.namedatlast.com.

No matter which method you use for naming your company, be sure it fits your image and your product or service and attracts your intended clientele.

Go back to Part 1