Remember how I wrote recently that no one cares about what name your startup goes by? And that the most important thing is that people remember it and that it doesn’t sound offensive/insensitive? And that, often, your startup name is what you make of it?
So, that kinda came off as though you shouldn’t pay any mind to what you name your business. Truth is, you should. It’s your first pitch to the customer. Your name creates a certain image in the mind of the customer even before they get to read your company profile.
So really, while it’s not shrewd to fuss over the name of the business, you should check out some guides.
Here are a few I cobbled from around the internet.
1: Just name your business, don’t think about the domain name being available. You can always patch on additional words to get a domain. Think of getpocket.com for Pocket.
2: Avoid unusual spellings. Don’t add intentional misspellings, a la, Tunez, Xtaminator or BoomPlaya. It makes the name hard to read.
3: Don’t create conceptual or technical hurdles. The name should be easy to pronounce, spell and understand.
4: Be descriptive. Let people know what business you are in right from your name.
5: Don’t change your name during a pivot. Because naming is hard and no one should ever have to go through that too often.
6: Comply with the OMC rule. Make your name “obviously meaningful to customers”.
7: Stick to two syllables. Like, Twitter, Pocket, Tumblr etc.
8: Or just one. Eg. Path, Line, Square etc.
9: Use a word that means something. By doing so, you won’t have to explain what it means every single time.
10: Google search the name first. It’s possible the name you’ve chosen already has an offensive meaning attached to it on the internet. Grexit should have done this one.
11: Make it unique and unforgettable.
12: Make it easy to pronounce and easy to remember.
13: Keep it simple. Avoid hyphens and other special characters.
14: For your domain. Favour common suffixes, like .com, .info or .net.
15: Avoid names that box you in. For example, a name that locks you into a particular geographic location or product category. According to this guide, a name like hotels.ng is a no no.
16: Slap two English words together (eg. HugDug) and position it to mean what you want. This was Seth Godin’s idea that I love and is my personal favourite.
These are clearly not commandments. The naming god won’t strike you down if you choose to go your own way. As a matter of fact, go your own way. Like we agreed before, if it’s not outright offensive, your name is what you make of it.
