Creating your own business is hard. One of the hardest parts is creating a business name. Here are the steps I went through to create my business name.

What type of business are you creating?

When thinking about your business name, you have to know what type of business you want to create. Is it a creative business? An accounting business?

When you know what type of business you’re creating you already eliminate options. Creative, conservative, and traditional are all going to have a different atmosphere, so decide what type of business you’re creating.

The other thing you have to keep in mind is your customers.  What type of people do you want to attract to your business? Think about them when creating a name.

What are your future plans for the business?

Many people are confused about whether they should use their own name or create another name. This depends on what your future plans are.

If your business does well and someone offers you a lot of money to sell it, would you sell it? If so, I wouldn’t use your name.

Another thing to consider is how large do you want to grow your company? If it’s only you, then your name is fine, but if you have over 10 employees, you might want to choose a different name.

On the flip side, maybe you want to build a whole empire under your name, that’s cool too. I couldn’t use my name, Paigon, because it’s hard to pronounce and it’s been mistaken for pagan which has a negative connotation for some people. My last name is Davis, which is too common, so I threw that idea out as well.

Brainstorm a list of names

Once you have an idea of what type of company you want and how you want to run it in the future, brainstorm a list of names.

If you’re lazy, try to list at least 10 names that are relevant to your business ideas. Try matching words together, adding symbols, and so on. Sometimes you’ll find a cool name combo.  

Does the name already exist?

Once you have your list of names, start searching them online to see if they already exist. You can also search for the domain name to see if you have the option of buying it.

If it already exists go to the next name. If you already fell in love with the name, try adding a symbol or another word to modify it.

I fell in love with Natasha Lane, but that domain name was already taken. Then, the domain name went on sale, but it was for over $500. So, I changed it to Natasha Lane Design Co. If you see me using Natasha Lane sometimes, that’s why.

Test it out

Once you have an idea of what you want to call your company, ask your friends and family what they think and why. When I chose Natasha Lane Design Co., I think I had other options like my name and my nickname, but everyone liked Natasha Lane the best.

Has anyone else struggled to name their company? What was your process? How did you come up with your name?

-Paigon | Natasha Lane Design Co.