So I am working on a business plan for a new company and want to test a few name options. I see all kinds of advice online about making sure your desired domain names are available and etc. That’s the easy part. What I want to do is test my name options against the potential market to see if the name evokes the concept that I want it to.
Sort of like asking you folks, if you saw a company sign that said “Stacy and Mack’s”, what kind of business would spring to your mind. That’s not one of my actual options, but it’s similar. But I don’t want someone online to say “hey, it sounds like she’s going to use that one, I’ll register the domain first and then she’ll have to pay me, muhahaha”
Perhaps a survey with lots of different names, some real and some not?
“Name and name” business names are so tired and overdone right now that the “concept” it would evoke in me if I saw it on an awning downtown would be “ugh, another cutesy new hobby business that will be gone in a year.”
Or equally, it evokes the fake name brands commonly found on own-label clothes and packaged foods at mass market stores like Target. Think Croft and Barrow; fine mens’ clothiers to scummy Kohl’s since, oh, 1992 or so. When you think of cheap Malaysian-made clothing think Croft & Barrow.
Domain registrations aren’t that expensive. If you’ve got 5 hot ideas, register them all, at least in .com form. While ensuring .net, etc. are still available.
If the business is mostly virtual can you affordably run the experiment of launching all 5 websites and see which one(s) take off?
Note there’s no requirement that your company paperwork, incorporation if you do that, names on bank accounts, etc., need to have any connection to the trade name(s) you use. In fact there are advantages to them being distinct.
I am not a fan of ‘and’ names cause people tend to shorten them anyway. Like Carsons, or Sears, or Abercrombie, so why not use a simpler name to begin with.
Name and Name businesses either sound like small, cute crafty businesses, or professional services firms depending on the name used. Now that might work for you based on your brand positioning or it may not, so I’d make sure you have that sorted before you move onto names. If you share that, we’d be in a better position to give you some opinions on naming territories even if you don’t give us the actual names.
If you are asking about the best process for how to test concepts for business names, there’s normally a whole stack of things you get to before that: target market, key demographics, etc. Assuming you’ve got some of that narrowed down, I’d recommend using online survey tool. You can be very do-it-yourself with something like Survey Monkey, to middle of the road, with tools that will enter tools that you design, but who will find your targets for you, to hiring a firm to most of the work. Costs obviously vary.
The key thing isn’t what we think, it’s what your customers are attracted to.
I must have been fond of acronyms when I first started out. I spent way too much time explaining what it stood for over the years I used it.
Years later, I started another, dissimilar business, but used the same contact information. That was a nightmare. I finally lumped both separate businesses under the same name, followed by descriptors of exactly what we provided. That seems to have worked out pretty well. I can answer the phone with one word and figure out right away which particular service folks are interested in.
Changing a business name or anything associated with it if you happen to find a problem down the line is a hellalot of work, time and money. Best to do what you are doing now and settling on something that will serve your needs for generations to come.
Okay, a little more info. It will be all online, upscale and boutique. I’m going to select merchandise to sell that’s as much as possible NOT available on Amazon.com so that I don’t have to compete with them, because that would be crazy. Also stuff from local craftsmen. I’ve done market analysis as much as I can without laying down a few thousand for professional demographic data (they really like to rip you off, don’t they?). Some of my early name ideas were ordinary, like “<X> shop”, I think those sound rather down-market and commodity. The “and” name sounds upscale and boutique to me, but I want to verify it with an objective audience, ideally potential customers.
Yeah, this is what I’m thinking in doing this advance research into names. I know you can file a DBA, but if I can pick a good name early on and avoid that, it would be ideal.
I would think that it’s a good idea to include something in the name that indicates what you do.
A brand new, unknown entity called “X and Y enterprises” is meaningless to me. It could be a fancy boutique, or it could be heavy industry like a steel mill.
“X shop” at least hints at you being a shopping site for the general public, not, say, an office-supply site for business-to-business.
I would try to be specific, mentioning what you sell–(but not so specific that you can’t later branch out into other types of goods. )
Example: “Country Jill’s gifts and crafts”
with a slogan on the next line: “fine and fun things for your home and lifestyle”.
or “nice things to wear and share”
Something a little corny and silly will stick in peoples’ memory. Something formal and upscale will just get lost or ignored, buried by the well-known names like Abercrombie&Fitch.
It’s very difficult to conduct a valid survey for a matter like this. You can’t count on the answers from friends and family, you need to get a large number of responses coming from a qualified target audience. OTOH you can use an informal survey to get an idea if you are on the wrong track. Keep in mind what others are saying, with only occasional exceptions a name doesn’t make a business. Many businesses start with a non-distinct name and then work out something after establishing their niche.
Is this an online site? It reminds me of a site here in Australia called hardtofind.com.au - great business name as it captures the problems with gift buying - that either the person is hard to find for (and we’ll have lots of suggestions) or you want a gift which is hard to find (so we offer the unique, the less common, the thoughtful).
See how the company name helps explain their brand positioning? I already kind of know what they’ll offer before I’ve even visited the site, and I’m curious. Your name & name ones will require more work to simply get people to understand what it is you sell = more cost to you.
Honestly, if I were to see that name I would wonder why I should go there instead of Amazon, Etsy, or any of the thousands of other craft/gift shops - online or not. The example provided by Girl From mars is genius! I would definitely be inclined to check that out.
That’s exactly the problem. It doesn’t sound upscale. It sounds like someone is *trying to sound *upscale. See LSLguy’s post.
I’m probably in your target demographic as I like unusual and handmade things. I’d be more likely to stop in to a brick and mortar store with a cutesy name than I would be take the time to examine a website with the same. There are just too many options out there to bother.
Girl From Mars is right. Something unusual will be better, and if it also explains what you sell, so much the better. Another site name along the lines of the one she mentioned is shopinprivate.com. It has a massive selection of merchandise that most people would be embarrassed to be seen shopping for…like things for butt ailments.
Okay, I’m still reading and thinking about your comments. The business will be doing pet products, high quality and boutique/hand made items. Things like hand-made dog coats and bling collars. Things that Amazon either doesn’t carry or they don’t carry exactly THAT version. Also toys designed for intellectual stimulation but not commodity toys that any store carries. Rodent habitats designed for enrichment (not just cages). The species I’ll have products for will be dogs, cats, rodents and birds. I’m having trouble coming up with a unique name that’s also descriptive without being ten words long. The only idea so far is BlingPet or PetBling but I worry that the word bling is too jargon/slang and will be passe in a few years.
“Bling” has been passé for a long time, and it implies that your store will specialize in frivolous things like rhinestone collars. I wouldn’t expect that a store with “bling” in the title would also have intellectually stimulating items for a hamster so I’d probably pass it by, which would be a shame because I know LOTS of hamsters in dire need of enrichment! (Not really, but if I had a hamster, I’d totally want to see what you had.)
Your product selection sounds great, though.
p.s. PLEASE don’t use a dumb pun in your title. If I see one more pet-related business with a dumb pun in the name I’m going to scream. We just got a store in town called Woofgang. Oy.
I’m not a big fan of terribly creative names. Pick something that people can remember and spell and rely on your marketing rather than your name.
For example, from your description, I’d be inclined to go with something like “Pet Specialties” - it’s not too narrow, but it’s still pretty descriptive of the service. People can spell both words and they’re likely to remember them. Of course, a name like that is probably taken, so might you need to add something to make it unique. “JC’s Pet Specialties” maybe.
Novelties might also work, but while it’s more likely to suggest products (rather than services) it’s also more likely to suggest frivolous items.
Also, I’m a big fan of generic names for LLCs and corporations. “JC Enterprises” is fine; let the DBA be the more descriptive public face. A DBA is far easier to change and having the permanent name be generic lets you grow/evolve without ending up with something that no longer fits you well.
I personally avoid possessive names, ‘X’s this …’ as being folksy, and rather egocentric. It’s important to always avoid self-praise: There’s an English expression,* ‘Anything that uses the word “High-Class”, isn’t.’*
Straight-talking blunt single words look like scams.
Lots of food for thought here, thanks guys! If I can test your patience a little more, I have a different question but still about the startup thing:
In doing estimated financials, obviously I have no sales history to make projections from. Most businesses don’t let you see how much product they sell but I was able to find that Ebay will display all sold listings in the past 90 days. So I pulled some product categories that overlap with mine and collected that data. Figuring that Ebay gets very rapid sales because of the auction/clearance prices (meaning that the sellers are trying to move or dump as much inventory as possible, so price things accordingly), I know my sales aren’t going to be anywhere close. So I ran up a 12-month sales forecast based on the estimate that I could sell 1% of the Ebay totals. It came up a fair amount higher than I expected, so now I’m second guessing myself. In your educated opinions, should I reduce that to maybe 1/2 percent of Ebay sales? Or am I on the right track?
