What Amazon and a dog-inspired PR firm can teach you about naming a company
Christening a new firm is no easy feat.
CHOOSING A COMPANY name can be a stressful process. Ideally, it should be unique, easy to pronounce and memorable. Easier said than done, right?
First things first, if you’re setting up a company in Ireland, you must identify the differences between a sole trader and a limited company. Company names and business names have a very different legal status.
Here are the differences between a company name and a business name:
Company name
- When you incorporate your company, a separate legal entity is created between you and your company
- It is required to register your company name with the Companies Registration Office (CRO)
- A company name is protected by the CRO. Once your company name is registered with the CRO, no other company can use it
Business name
- It is necessary to register a business name with the CRO if any individual, partnership or corporate body wishes to operate under any name that is not their own true name
- The CRO does not protect a business name and there are no restrictions if any other individual wants to use your business name
- No legal entity is formed and there is no limitation on liability
A great company name has the power to help your business stand out in the crowd. Do you want it to be abstract, simple or creative? There are pros and cons to all of these.
Here are some tips to help you start your naming process:
1. Keywords
Create a persona for the type of customer you want to sell your product to. You want to make sure your company name resonates with them.
Do you want your name to be fun, simple, serious? Write down a list of keywords. They should be based on what your target market is like and what they like.
Try to keep it simple, a name that’s easy to spell and pronounce. You can use a thesaurus to find different variations of words you already have.
2. Be creative
The more creative and free-thinking you can be at this stage, the more ideas you will generate, so have fun with it. You should still keep your guidelines in mind, but do allow yourself some unrestricted time to be creative. You’ll have more options to choose from this way.
This can be as simple as knocking a few letters off an existing word. Some examples of companies that did just that are Asus, which is from the word ‘Pegasus’, and Cisco which is short for ‘San Francisco’.
Think about brand names that tell a story. This makes customers respond to your business on an emotional level.
Dublin based PR agency Buck and Hound has an interesting story about how their name came to be. ‘Buck’ comes from the founding director’s name, Claire Buckley, and ‘Hound’ refers to her dog, Stella, who sits in the office alongside her.
3. Be descriptive
You want something that conveys the identity of your company. A great example of a descriptive company name is Amazon. Named after earth’s largest rainforest, when it launched in 1995 it had the tagline, “Earth’s largest bookstore”.
4. Get input
Once you have a few possibilities, bounce them off your friends and family. You can even go out and ask your target market what they think.
You might be surprised at the number of things they bring to your attention that you’ve overlooked. Add their feedback to the process.
5. Don’t limit yourself
A name like ‘Ballymun Plumbing’ may work well at the start, but it’s potentially limiting when it comes to expanding the company outside of Ballymun.
When choosing your name always think about the possible expansion of your business. This means avoiding geographic locations. Local place names may clash with another company in the same area.
6. Check if the domain name is available
Your domain name does not have to match the name of your company exactly. For example, GlaxoSmithKline, a pharmaceutical industry, uses GSK.com for its corporate website.
Check if the domain name you want to use is available, then you can secure the domain name. For Irish businesses, you have the choice of using .ie or .com. Keep in mind whether or not you want to target non-Irish or international audiences.
You can check if your domain name is available by using the Irish Domain Registry.
When you have selected your domain name, register some similar names or variations. We recommend you do this to protect your brand from competitors and to drive more traffic to your website.
7. Consult the Companies Registration Office
The final step is to check the CRO’s search facility to see if the name you want is available.
The CRO reserves the right to refuse any name based on its rules. Here are some things to consider before picking a company name:
- Avoid using general words in your company name. Examples would be ‘business’, ‘services’ and ‘consultancy’
- Similarly, words such as ‘Universal’, ‘Global’, and ‘International’ are too popular and generic
- Words such as ‘holding’, ‘group’, ‘system’, ‘services’, ‘international’, ‘solutions’, ‘enterprises’ also have a weak distinction
Larissa Feeney is the founder of Accountant Online. It hosts free monthly webinars providing advice and guidance for startups.
