As Shakespeare phrased it, what's in a name? When it's your own small business, the answer is everything1x Ad campaigns and product lines can be changed fairly easily. But you'll want to stick with your business name for a long time, so make it a good one. "Your business name can convey what you do, pinpoint your business's location, or deliver a message of quality and elegance," advises Entrepreneur magazine. See their article "
Personalize Your Plates" and other advice under the site's "Choosing a Business Name" tips. 1
Don't underestimate a business name's importance--it can play a big part in your success. 2 Patent and trademark attorney Henri Charmasson says, "A name is a goodwill ambassador, a herald, a promise, the first thing that a consumer hears about a firm or its product." 3 Look at the directory in any executive park or office building. How many nondescript names--like LBG Enterprises and The Smith Company--do you see? Your business name should be chosen just as carefully as the words in an advertisement, because that's what it is.
A Palm Springs, California, real estate broker wanted to specialize in expensive homes and condominiums. She opened up her firm with engraved stationery and what she considered a classy name: The Thornton Agency. After a year of dismal sales, she attended a SCORE seminar for small business owners. The first thing the volunteer consultant asked was: what does your agency DO? Real estate, she replied. But what kind? he probed. She explained her dream of handling high-end estate homes. After re-inventing herself as Prestige Properties, Ms. Thornton now has a thriving business. 4
Prestige Properties. Discount Tires. Party 4 Less. These names are business promotions in themselves, and you haven't spent a nickel on advertising. Rene Barbier Spanish Red Table Wine had such poor U.S. sales that distributors refused to stock it. Then David Brown, marketing director for the American importer, capitalized on the current interest in Mediterranean cooking and renamed it Rene Barbier Mediterranean Red, complete with a table-by-the-sea label. Orders increased by more than tenfold over the next year. 5
Be clever, but not too clever. The Kat Korner may sound cute for a feline-supply store. But how many people will remember the creative spelling--and be able to get the phone number from the information operator? The SBA offers a number of instructional articles like "What A Difference A Name Makes" and "Packaging Your Business: How To Harness Image As A Marketing Tool" at their
website. Search by "naming a business" for best results.
What CAN'T you call your business? You can only use the words corporation, incorporated, or limited (for limited liability) if you are a corporation. (And if you are a corporation, you MUST use one of those words.) State and local laws may vary somewhat, but a non-incorporated firm has to be careful not to misrepresent itself. Generally, you can't say "and Associates" or "and Sons" if there are none. Similarly, Smith Insurance Company is okay for a sole proprietor, but not Smith AND Company, unless there are other partners or employees. These considerations will be part and parcel of your initial choice of the legal form of your business. Check out "
Forms of Business Ownership" and "Starting A Small Business Required Advance Planning" for more information.
Finally, try out your proposed name on folks of different ages and backgrounds. If Chevrolet had pre-tested its model name Nova on even one Spanish-speaking person, they'd have known it meant, "it doesn't go" in that language--and avoided a marketing disaster. 6
And how far would the brunette starlet Norma Jean Baker have gone, if she hadn't changed her name (and hair color) to Marilyn Monroe? 7
By Paula Damiano
#####
Source Notes:
(1) Carlienne A. Frisch. "Personalize Your Plates." Entrepreneur Magazine. November 18.
(2) "Naming Your Business." TipWorld's Small Office-Home Office e-mail newsletter, 10/29/99.
www.tipworld.com.
(3) The Name's The Thing [book] by Henri Charmasson. As quoted in "Packaging Your Business: How To Harness Image As A Marketing Tool."
www.sba.gov/gopher/Business-Development/Success-Series/Vol9/packagin.txt.
(4) Author's personal knowledge. (Prestige Properties, PO Box 10171, Palm Desert CA)
(5) "What A Difference A Name Makes."
www.sba.gov/gopher/Business-Development/Success-Series/Vol7/diff.txt .
(6) "Packaging Your Business: How To Harness Image As A Marketing Tool."
www.sba.gov/gopher/Business-Development/Success-Series/Vol9/packagin.txt.
(7) "Packaging Your Business: How To Harness Image As A Marketing Tool."
www.sba.gov/gopher/Business-Development/Success-Series/Vol9/packagin.txt.
Would you like to
Comment
