Selecting A Business Name

by Mike Burstein

Picking a name for your new enterprise can be a daunting task. Spend the time required to make a wise choice on this key component of all of your future sales and marketing efforts. While the quick and dirty solution may seem to be to use your own name or initials or a descriptive name of your locality, the costs down the road to make a change to your business name are enormous. The best name for a business is the one that leaves no question about what type of business the name represents. While this may seem to be a simple requirement, it doesn't usually receive the careful forethought necessary during the excitement of planning a new business startup. Study the names on the list below and decide which one(s) tell you immediately what the company does:

• Cox Enterprises Inc
• ABC Home Service
• Bill Jones and Associates
• Valley Service Inc
• Johnson's Locksmith & Safe Service Inc
• Top of the Hill Mobile Service

These were business names randomly selected from an online business directory. The only business that advertises its' services clearly through it's name is Johnson's Locksmith & Safe Service Inc. The value of a clearly named business is immeasurable.

Spend plenty of time coming up with a name that sells your service. If possible, try to use a name that begins with a letter towards the beginning of the alphabet. This will assure you of a more prominent position on any lists your company ends up on, i.e., Internet business directories, phone directories, or industry specific lists. You will find lots of businesses that use A, AA or even AAA as the beginning of their name to insure positioning themselves at the head of any list they appear in. Just don't loose site of the objective of the name to clearly define your business.

A catchy name that clearly describes your service is a winner and will make it easy for your customers to remember your company's name. Whatever name you pick, choose it wisely because you will be stuck with it forever! Once your business gets going, changing corporate names, business cards, letterhead, invoices, checks, signs, uniforms, promotional items, etc. becomes too expensive and time consuming. Get it right the first time and your business name will be one of your foremost tools in marketing your service.

About the Author
© 2003 ODEC Mike Burstein has been helping the SOHO and Small Business community grow & prosper for over 20 years by solving start up problems, creating best practices, automating their offices, getting free publicity and dramatically increasing traffic and sales. Visit http://www.SOHOWiz.com for the latest FREE business tips.