12 Tips For Naming Your Startup Business

Finding the right name for your startup can have a significant impact on your success.

The wrong name can do worse than fail to connect with customers; it can also result in insurmountable business and legal hurdles. In contrast, a clear, powerful name can be extremely helpful in your marketing and branding efforts.

Here are 12 helpful suggestions on how to come up with a winning name for your business:

1. Avoid hard-to-spell names.

You don’t want potential customers getting confused about how to find your business online. (I never understood why “Flickr” was pushed as the name for the photo-sharing site.) You want to avoid having to continually correct the misspelled version of your name. Keep it simple.

2. Don’t pick a name that could be limiting as your business grows.

Picking too narrow of a name may cause you problems down the road. Imagine if Jeff Bezos had picked the name “OnlineBooks” instead of “Amazon.” So avoid names like “Wedding Dresses of San Francisco” or “LugNuts Unlimited.” You don’t want to limit your business to a particular product or a specific city.

3. Conduct a thorough Internet search.

Once you have determined a name you like, do a web search on the name. More often than not, you will find that someone else is already using that business name. While that won’t be a total showstopper, it should give you pause.

4. Get the .com domain name.