Investment Business Name Ideas

Here are 10 things to consider when determining a good business name or product name:

1. Think about what you want your company name to convey. Service oriented businesses should consider whether it will be easy for their prospective customers to recognize what services the business provides, based on the name of the company (example: Friendly Dog Walkers or Bright Accounting). Businesses located in rural areas and serving rural communities may want to project a smaller, hometown feel with their name. However, businesses planning to focus on bigger markets or bigger customers might want to project a larger, more corporate image with their name.

2. Brainstorm name possibilities. Think about words that describe your industry or the products/services you offer. Think about words that describe your competitors and words that describe the differences between your products and services and those of your competitors. Also, consider words that describe the benefits of using your products or services. Finally, think about words and phrases that evoke the feelings you want your customers to feel when they see your company name.

3. Keep the name short, simple, and easy to write and remember. Obscure business names are often difficult to write and even more difficult to remember. This is a problem because for most startups and small businesses, word-of-mouth advertising is the most successful form of marketing. If your customers can’t remember your name or can’t spell it for others, it will make it difficult for them to help promote your business. While it might be tempting, avoid using a K in place of a Q or a Ph in place of an F when coming up with your company name. Such letter substitutions make spelling the name very difficult. Also, don’t forget to consider the acronym of your company name (an acronym is composed of the first letter of each word in a phrase). You might not use an acronym, but your customers might refer to your business by an acronym. A name such as Apple Support Services can result in an unfavorable acronym - ASS.

4. Avoid names that are too narrow or too literal. Think about how your company may evolve over time and make sure that the company name can evolve with the business. For example, if you name your company iPhone Accessories and later expand to sell accessories for other products, your original name will be too narrow and restrictive.

In addition to the 4 tips we offered above, here are 6 more tips.

5. Avoid decision by committee. You’ll find yourself trying to find consensus – which can lead to a very plain name. If you must involve others, pick a small group of people who understand you and your business (and pick a mix of right-brain types and left-brain types so that you can have some variety.

6. Avoid plain words. Plain words make it very difficult to differentiate your company from your competitors. For example, there were hundreds of thousands of logo design businesses around the world when we started thinking about crowdspring. We knew that we would be expanding to many different industries (graphic design, web design, industrial design, writing, and many more) and so we didn’t want to name our business Great Logo Design or ManyDesigners – it would have been descriptive, but not memorable and certainly not sufficiently unique.

7. Be careful with geographic names. Some people use their city, state or region as part of their company name. If you plan only to work in your city, then this might serve you well. But a geographic name could hinder you later.

8. Avoid obscure words. Obscure words or references might be difficult to spell or pronounce. Be especially sensitive if you're trying to reach a mass audience (such as on the Internet). Obscure or invented names can work – Xerox is a great example – but this often requires a huge marketing budget and tremendous effort.

9. Avoid trends and fads. You’ll want your company’s name to evolve as trends evolve, so be careful to identify the trends and to avoid following them. For example, in the late 1990’s, it was trendy to use a .com after your company name if your company was an Internet business. After the Internet bubble burst, the .com became synonymous with having no business model and those companies who survived very quickly dropped .com from their names.

10. Consider the domain. Look for a name that is also available for registration as a domain (ideally, as a .com domain). You should understand that .com domains are very popular and you’ll struggle to find available domains that match your company name. Many people obsess during this process. That's why name suggestions on crowdspring include a matching domain name!

Creatives on crowdspring suggest not only names, but also URLs to accompany those names!

Now it's not always possible to find an identical URL when you have a name you love. But that's a smaller problem today than it used to be.

The number of people who type in URLs is shrinking every day. Small business owners still seem to be obsessing over getting the pure URL as MyCompanyName.com, but the larger organizations have adapted. The URL is becoming much less important. Nowadays people are putting the name into Google to find sites. The sad fact is that the vast majority of names we consider are ‘camped’ by squatters hoping to make a quick buck. If you don’t have deep pockets or a convincing story to share you’re going to get taken to the cleaners.

Google is a great tool for getting around this issue—if you’ve got a strong brand and you’re getting links from people you’ll end up as the number one response for your name even if it isn’t the pure dotcom domain.

Yes. Keep the business name short and make it easy to pronounce and spell. Some new businesses make the mistake of picking what sounds like a cool name - but one that is very difficult for people to pronounce or spell. If people can’t pronounce or spell your business name, they'll have difficulty recommending your business to their friends and colleagues.

When you pick your business name, you should think a bit about how the name will translate into a visual identity. It's premature to start picturing your logo design when you name the company, but most people associate words with images, so it's important for you to consider this as you pick your company name. Make sure that the images your business name conjures up in prospective customers are positive. Once you have a strong name, you'll want to think about ways to strengthen the name with a great logo design.

The major search engines, like Google, Bing, and Yahoo, all index your company name. That means it's really important to think carefully before coming up with a name for your business. Are you facing heavy competition from others in your industry? Is your name confusing for the industry it belongs to? Is the name so generic that people cannot find it?

Since you’ll be competing with other businesses in your industry for search results, you’ll have to get pretty crafty. Make sure that the name you choose for your company gives you an advantage and doesn't act as a hindrance to how readily searchable you are on the web.

Big companies run focus group tests to ask potential customers how they feel about a possible business name or product name. You can do something very similar by running prospective names by your friends, family, or your customers or potential customers. You also can ask your vendors or suppliers. These informal focus groups might suggest some improvements or might offer some feedback on why certain names are better than other company names.

It’s not easy to name a new company or product. At times, it feels like every name in the dictionary is already taken. And just when you think you have found the perfect name, you realize that you can’t get the matching domain name.

Naming consultants want to charge you thousands or tens of thousands of dollars to help name your company or product. Few business owners can afford such fees. There’s a better alternative.

Crowdspring is home to the world’s best creative team.

Unlike the traditional freelancer or agency market, crowdspring is a crowdsourcing marketplace. On crowdspring, tens of thousands of creatives from over 195 countries around the world compete for your business. You will get choice when you look to name your new business or product that you will not get anywhere else. In fact, we guarantee that you’ll get at least 100 name suggestions. If you don’t find a name you like when you receive fewer than 100 suggestions, just let us know within 30 days and we’ll refund your fees in full – no questions asked.

Our unique model and process addresses many of the concerns encountered when pricing naming a business or product. We take a lot of the work and stress out of the equation for you: you won’t need to get quotes in advance for the work, or interview people or agencies.

Your set the price for your project, and creatives from around the world will suggest names (and URLs) to your project for you to review. When your project ends, you choose the name you like the best. It’s that simple!

We have one of the most talented communities of creatives on the planet. Over the past decade, our team has helped tens of thousands of small business owners, entrepreneurs, agencies, and non-profits. The vast majority of our clients find a great name they love. But we know that sometimes, you just won't find something you love. It's pretty rare, but it happens. That's why we offer you a simple promise: if your naming project doesn’t receive at least 100 entries, just let us know within 30 days and we’ll promptly refund what you paid.