When Startup Odense asked me to share my thoughts on what is important when starting a new business, I instantly thought – the uniqueness of the brand! To give a sweet, short and to the point inspiration I will give you my thoughts on the name of the business. Prioritizing on finding a great name for your business is one of the key steps toward building a strong and profitable brand.
Maybe your product or service has already been developed or maybe you are in the middle of the process? Essential to all is, it has to have a name before you start selling: what should I call my newborn brand?
The name of the business
When my partner and I stepped on to the entrepreneurial path we had a lot of decisions to make: how do we define our business? how are we unique? what is it really the customers buy?
In terms of the name we wanted it to connote to the area in which we were working and also arouse curiosity in expecting something more from the work our agency provides.
That was when we came up with the name Fingerspitz* – from the german expression “Fingerspitzgefühl”, which means sensing and decoding signals that are not explicitly obvious.
So what should your name say about your brand?
Let us say you have already defined your target group, investigated the market competition and done market segmentation. Next step is to connect your name with the expertise, value and uniqueness of your new product. To get the feeling of this we have listed a couple of key points for you to keep in mind when developing a name:
- Think about what your brand should communicate. A general rule is that it should reinforce the key elements of your product or service.
- Be clear to connect your name to your product or service. The faster your target audience decodes your product or service, the less energy you’ll need to explain.
- Choose a name, which is appealing to both you and your customers.
- Give your audience the chance to connect with you by choosing a recognizable or familiar name, which connotes pleasantly.
- Make it short. Use as less words as possible.
- Think your business as big as possible. A lot of businesses, and especially the small ones, often make the mistake of thinking too local. Don’t limit your business at the very beginning. Think big, even if you have to start local!
Test your list of names
When you have finally narrowed down your list to a couple of names, it is time to test them. Do a trademark research at http://www.dkpto.dk for the local research and check the online availability. Also consider which url you should use for your business: www.yourbrand.com or www.yourbrand.dk. Choosing a .com url will attract international visitors to your business whereas .dk will get you local and danish visitors primarily.
Finding a name can actually be a fun and explorative process. Include your network if possible and try to get to the core of your brand. The closer you get, the more fun it will be.
So now grab a pen and get started!
AuthorAnna Aagaard – owner and director of Fingerspitz*.
What do you like about Odense?
I like the fact that Odense has made a decision to take a step toward bringing the city into the international spotlight – and the fact that everyone is willing to contribute to its success.
What is your best entrepreneurial advice?
My best advice will be to think as big as possible. Aim high and just go for it. Odense has a lot of entrepreneurial offers. So if you need help you should take advantage of this.
Think. Plan. And go pursue your entrepreneurial dreams.
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