Business Naming Basics

I ran across another blog that presented some advice on business naming.

As usual, everyone has their own set of opinions concerning effective company naming, and Kathy of Virtual Impax had a couple of deeply felt feelings about her company’s name and about naming companies in general.

First, her list of naming criteria

1. A great small business name tells what you do.
2. A great small business name communicates your business’ unique place in the universe.
3. A great small business name uses words that people can easily spell.
4. A great small business name uses words that people are using to search for solutions to the GDP (not Gross Domestic Product but rather Goals, Desires and Problems).

I can somewhat agree with the last two and wholeheartedly agree with the second, but as I commented on her blog about number 1: “However, there is one piece of advice you’ve provided that I disagree with. That’s having your name describe your business. Inevitably that leads to confusion because it can easily be mentally transferred to another company with a similar name. In addition, descriptive names are inevitably long, usually three-words, so names get reduced to three-initials that have no personality or relevance.” I forgot to add that descriptive names are usually generic, thus hard to trademark”

I then suggested that: “I want my clients to have names that differentiate them from their competitors – names that are memorable as well as easy to pronounce and are suggestive of a benefit or solution if possible. The name should reflect the character of the business, should set the tone.”

She stated she thought her company name, Virtual Impax, was not a good name because…

1)People asked her, “What do you do?” (I believe that to be an opening for your elevator speech, and that’s a good thing.)
2)Even clients don’t spell the name correctly so sometimes she has to return checks. (I think it’s great she acquired those clients. Could the name, being different, have contributed to acquiring that paying client in the first place?)

I’m not saying Virtual Impax is a perfect name.There will always be some controversy about corporate names. I’ve never seen, much less created, a perfect name. It’s “progress, not perfection” in the naming game.

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