Whether you like it or not, your business name is the first impression you will make on the public. So it is important to get it right. It can draw or repel customers. It can put you in the good memory of your audience, as well as make your business something that people don’t want to think or even talk about.

Your business name can incite the public to ask questions. It can even impel them to buy your product or services. That much power lies in a name. So, what is in a business name?

Should your business name be abstract or meaningful?

Professionals never seem to agree on which is better. Should the name be abstract, such that it plays on the curiosity of the customers? Or should it be meaningful such that the customer could rightly infer what your company is about from it?

KOPIZO for a clothing outfit, will get the customers asking questions about what your company does, but these customers are not always patient. They want what they want now. They want to be able to deduce what you have to offer them from your business name.  Thankfully, there is always an in-between.

So, you should go for suggestive names, like VOGUEZ which hints, without telling, the customers the business of the company. What line of business would you expect VOGUEZ to be? Fashion of course.

One other reason to choose a meaningful name is the use of clarity to stand out among competitors. Your business name should state outrightly what your business is about, in order to attract users that need your services as opposed to your competitors who prefer stylish or hard-to-explain business names to clarity.

Should your business name be specific or broad?

The choice is yours here. But it is always good to go as broad as you want depending on your plan for future expansion. APPLE COMPUTERS was changed to APPLE when the company decided to go beyond building computers, into other electronics.

It is always easier if you can plan this into the initial naming of your company. As a rule, avoid using the name of localities, for instance, LAGOS FRIES. What happens if you want to take your FRIES out of Lagos, perhaps to a place where Lagos does not bear a pleasant connotation?

Several options are available for you to explore when deciding your business name. Above all, research is inevitable. You should find out if there is any objectionable connotation to the chosen name, and also check to be sure you are not using another company’s trademark.

You should also check the internet if a corresponding domain name exists for your chosen business name or not. There are several domain name search platforms that you can use for this search. This step is very important if you plan to put your business on the internet through your website. You don’t want to create confusion in your users by having a web address that is not in anyway similar to your business name or vice versa.

You may also run the name by friends, family, prospects, and whoever you feel can offer a helpful advice. Think about their input and compare them to your own. This will help you arrive at a better option than if you were going by only your own idea.

Work hard at it; you owe your business a unique and charming name.