How To Name Your Niche-y Business

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” —  William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act II, scene ii

But does the Bard know what he’s talking about when it comes to naming a business?

Photo by gailf548 courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons.

When it comes to naming your niche-y business, it pays to be thoughtful. Names carry logical data, emotional resonance, and the energy of your entrepreneurial  intentions with them.

Your business’s name makes a statement about your business that registers with readers or listeners on a mostly subconscious level. It speaks volumes {or nothing at all} about what you do and who you want to serve, and it’s infused with what onlookers might come to think of as your brand personality.

It’s all too common for an entrepreneur to become emotionally attached to a name while in the ideation phase of a business start-up, only to find out later that what the name means to you sounds like something else entirely to your prospective right people.

But before we get into the qualities of names and all they carry, let’s go over the three types of business names.

The 3 Types of Business Names

There are three types of business names.

• Literal – Literal business names often leave no doubt as to what they do, and by extension, who they hope to serve. Examples: Copyblogger, Writer’s Digest, The Launch Coach. Most businesses with the owner’s name in them also fall into the literal category, although you can’t tell what they do at first blush, i.e. Dyana Valentine. {Clarity can come in through a tagline. Dyana’s tagline is Helping self-starters self-finish: one project at a time. More about taglines — one of my favorite topics — in a future post. Author’s Note: here’s the promised post about creating a killer tagline for your niche-y  business.}

• Evocative – Evocative business names create a mood, set a tone, and lure prospective customers in with words or phrases that intrigue, romance, provoke, or even confound. Examples: Starbucks, Viper Chill, THE BLISSFUL, White Hot Truth, Curious Sofa, Big Bright Bulb.

• Hybrid – Hybrid business names are straightforward with a twist. They give you an idea of what they do but also convey a strong dose of personality. Examples: Productive Flourishing, Think Traffic, Apartment Therapy, KIND Healthy Snacks, Abby Kerr Ink. {Early on, I was going to name my business The Abby Kerr Copywriting Agency, which would have been very much a literal name. I switched it up when I realized that I wanted to offer services beyond copywriting.}

If you have a common name, you may not want to use it in your business name. For instance, John Smith Hair Studio falls a little flat. But then there’s Shop By Brown, a quirkily memorable European-styled antique and design store in Houston, Texas curated by “thing-finder” Jill Brown. Brown is a common name used uncommonly, in an almost ironic way in her business name. Then she carries the “brown” theme throughout the other brand identity copy on her site. The juxtaposition of ‘Brown’ with Jill’s totally uncommon store is one of the things that makes her brand personality so captivating.

The right name is usually the one that feels right.

But that’s not the only indicator you should go by.

When I named my shop, THE BLISSFUL, I initially settled on The Blissful Home. I was toying with the more evocative THE BLISSFUL, but I was afraid people would say, “The Blissful What?” I didn’t love The Blissful Home, but it felt like the name that would make the most sense to people. So The Blissful Home it was. After one year of business, I was sick of hearing from new customers that they had the perception from the name alone that it was a “country store” and had avoided coming in until their hip “friend who hates country” had come in, liked it, and could vouch for it having a metropolitan feel. The name alone had kept some people away. So a year into business, I dropped the ‘Home.’ I can’t begin to tell you how different the reaction was instantaneously when I tweaked the name. {I’ll never dumb a name down again.}

The Right Name Makes All the Difference

Imagine two shops on Main Street. Both have well-appointed store windows, eye-catching signage, and good locations on the avenue. Both are vintage-inspired shops.

One is called Miss Petunia’s Frilly Things.

One is called The Snazz Broker.

You’re in town for only another 10 minutes and you want to run in somewhere and pick up a little gift for a friend. You’ve never been in either shop.

Pop quiz: based on name alone, which shop would you go into?

You might think the answer totally depends on your personality and personal preferences. You’d be half right.

The Other Half Depends On Culturally-Accepted Connotations of the Words That Comprise Your Business Name

Let’s take Miss Petunia’s Frilly Things and The Snazz Broker.

Which store’s proprietor would you guess is younger?

Which store probably attracts a wider age range of customers?

Which store probably has greater variety in their merchandise mix?

Which store has better price points? {Ooh, that’s a toughie!}

Which store is probably a more man-friendly place to shop?

Don’t let your attachment to a name — any name {even your own} — override the likeliest perceptions of it. And yes, if you’re wondering, this totally has to do with knowing your right people.

Other Important Stuff to Consider When Naming Your Business

• Is the name already in use? Before you get attached to a new business name, Google it. See if it’s already in use, and if so, where {if it’s in your state already, that could be a bad idea depending on what business entity you wish to file as}. Particularly check out businesses that have any of the same remarkable/descriptive words in their names as you have in mind, especially if they’re in the same industry or a related one. Because the web has essentially put every business on one Main Street, it’s not a good idea to pick exactly the same business name as any one else’s, even if you’re on two different continents. {Trust me on this.}

• Is the name flexible enough to allow your business concept and model to evolve over time? Say you’re a printing company and today you’re printing only on tee shirts and other wearable goods, but a year from now you may expand to print on mugs and shot glasses. Will the name Put Me On be encompassing enough for you at that point?

• Is the name easily pronounceable, phonetically correct, and correctly spelled? I love an alternative spelling, but you know every girl name Gennyfer is forever spelling and re-spelling her name all the livelong day. You can call your biz Kids R’ Krazy or name it a 27-letter Chickasaw word that means “spirit of art” if you want to, but be prepared to do some ‘splainin. {And some spellin’.} And keep in mind that an unusual spelling won’t seem nearly as fun and unique to you in Year Two of your business as it did on Day Two.

• Do you love the name? I mean love. Naming your business is a lot like naming your kid. You want the name to evoke the sort of personality or spirit you hope she will have, you want it to wear well over time, you want it to go well with your last name {for a business, reframe this as you want it to align well with your offerings}, and you don’t want it to cause your kid undue turmoil in his peer group. You don’t want to feel embarrassed every time you have to introduce your business by name, do you?

So, choosing a name for your business? Truly, it’s one of the most fun parts of starting up. Just beware of pitfalls like name duplication, brand misrepresentation, and funky phonetics, and you’ll be A-OK.

Entrepreneurs, how did you know when you found the right name for your business?

Any regrets in the naming of your biz? Do you ever think of re-launching under a new name?

What advice would you offer new business owners in choosing a name for theirs?

Which of the three types of business names — literal, evocative, or hybrid — are you typically attracted to and why?

Need an assist in picking just the right name? My Fifty Dollar Phraseologie Fix is the perfect solution for tiny, well-defined, one-time-only projects like generating names or taglines. I’ll give you three rockin’ ideas that mesh with your vibe in five days or fewer.