STARTUP NAME – 10 NAME YOUR STARTUP STEPS

STARTUP NAME – 10 NAME YOUR STARTUP STEPS

❏ Today, I’m speaking on Startup Name: 10: Name Your Startup Steps. Picking the name for your startup is one of the most time-consuming and essential steps you will take. Choose the wrong name, and your startup could fail.  A lawsuit can be filed against you if you pick a terrible name. Choose a bad name, and other cultures could mock you due to how the name translates. How do you not mess up this early and vital step?

As an executive coach, I help founders find the right help at the right time. Whether you run an early-stage business or are doing millions per month online, returns can cripple your cash flow. Last week, I taught you to “Minimize Product Returns: 10 Ways to Fewer Returns.“.

You will spend more person-hours picking the name for your startup than almost any other function in the opening weeks of your startup. Sadly, the startup name you choose may not be the right one.

Let’s get started!

Step 1: Start with a Pad of Paper

Write down every name that pops into your head, no matter how crazy or long. Don’t worry if someone else is already using the name. You are in the idea stage of your company’s life cycle. There are good ideas. Plan on spending 1-2 hours just writing down names. If you’re working with a team, get everyone together. Have one of you play the scribe. Please don’t judge anyone’s ideas verbally. Could you write it down? After 1-2 hours, stop!

Step 2: Identify Names Relevant to Your Product

Now, you can go through the list of potential startup name choices and scratch through any names irrelevant to your end product. So, if you’re making a piece of wine hardware, cross-reference all names unrelated to the wine industry or the product’s function. Why? Good question. If you’re looking for a company that can dry clean your clothes, “dry cleaner” being part of the name is likely to help you find it. If you’re a restaurant serving seafood, like Red Lobster, you will instantly recognize it as a seafood restaurant.

Step 3: Pick Easy to Say & Remember Names

We’ve got all the weird names out there. Take the startup URL, yslx.com, for example. How do you pronounce it in English? I have no idea. I need help remembering it, too. I am still trying to determine their actions by looking at their names. Do you? It may mean something in a non-English language. Whatever language that might be, if that’s the only market you’re selling to, great! If you want to sell your product in an English-speaking language, I recommend choosing another company name.

Step 4: Choose Shorter Name

You could name your startup ‘Far North Yosemite California Custom Wine Racks.’ It’s a mouthful. It is also highly demographically isolated for potential sales. Are you willing to sell to folks in Tampa, Florida? Yes? Those who live in Florida might think California is too far away to buy a wine rack. Instead, choosing “Custom Wine Racks” (if available) is shorter and removes any geographical information that could limit sales.

Step 5: Check to See if the Name is Trademarked

Now, your list is shorter. Let’s see if someone has already registered your chosen business names. If you picked “McDonald’s,” sorry, you can’t use it, even if your name is “McDonald’s.” Why? “McDonald’s” is trademarked by the “McDonald’s Hamburger Corporation.”. Trademarks have limited use rights, so if you were making telescopes and wanted to name your company McDonald’s Telescopes, you might be legally OK. However, if McDonald’s lawyers send you a letter, do you want to spend tens of thousands on a lawyer telling McDonald’s corporation that you are legally free to use McDonald’s telescopes? It could have been a better use of money. Go to https://www.uspto.gov/ (link) and see if the name is in use. Stay away from trademarked names.

Step 6: Check the Name in Other Languages

English is a combination of many languages. There have been instances where a product name meant a curse word in another language. Nokia/Microsoft’s “Lumia” phone line is one example. In Spanish slang, it means “prostitute.” The car manufacturer “Peugeot” has a similar meaning in some Chinese dialects. Use a website like http://wordsafety.com/ (link) to check your name before you fall in love with it.

Step 7: Is the Domain Name Available?

OK, the list is shorter. Now comes the big list-thinning check. Would you happen to know if the domain name is available? You will be shocked if you haven’t done domain name searches before. Most names left on your list are likely already “owned” by someone. Hundreds worldwide make six- to seven-figure incomes buying and selling domain names. The odds that many, if any, names on your reduced list are not owned by someone are relatively low. Any name with a small number of characters, like three to five, is almost positively owned by someone on the web. I recommend using https://domains.google.com (link) to search. I use it exclusively for businesses and clients to find, buy, and manage domains. There is no better service, IMHO.

Step 8: Should You Choose a Dot Com if Possible?

When the internet started, names ending in dot com (.com) and dot net (.net) were dominant. Now, there are hundreds of domain extensions. Currently, the top 150 million domain extensions are:

.COM: 82.01 million
.DE (Germany): 13.05 million
.CN (China): 12.55 million
.NET: 12.42 million
.UK (United Kingdom): 7.83 million
.ORG: 7.79 million
.INFO: 5.24 million
.NL (Netherlands): 3.5 million
.EU (European Union): 2.98 million
.RU (Russia): 2.31 million

If you are USA-based, I recommend choosing a Dot Com (.com) domain extension over any other. Why? Well, the list above is one good reason. Also, your customers are more likely to have an instant “trust” in a company name that ends in Dot Com (.com) than one that ends in Dot Wine (.wine), even if you make a wine product or service. The same rationale for choosing a name that ends in Dot CN (.cn) if your company is based in or predominantly sells in China. The other company with your name using Dot Com (.com) is more likely to win the “search ranking” race unless you’re ready to spend a lot of money. Choose a company name that you can get from Dot Com (.com), or even if it’s not your “first choice.”

Step 9: Grab Other Related Domains

Once you’ve found your Dot Com (.com) domain, grab the other substantial domain extensions around it. Using my Wine Products company example in the USA, get the Dot Com (.com), Dot Net (.net), and Dot Info (.info) domains also. You should also grab the related country extension if you plan to sell your product in a foreign country. Stay calm, though, on country extensions. Your home country is the critical extension that you should focus on.

Step 10: Choose a Domain Management Service

I mentioned earlier that I recommend using https://domains.google.com (link) to search. I also recommend it for managing your domains. Google’s tool allows you to readily grant full permissions to set up and manage your website by an inside employee or an outside service provider while you ultimately control the domain. So, if you switch to the external company building your website, they can’t hold the power of your domain name hostage (it happens a lot!). Just remove the current web-building company as an administrator. Assign the new company administrator rights. You stay in complete control of the domain.

Conclusion

I hope I have educated you on Startup Name – 10 Name Your Startup Steps (link). Following my advice, you’ll have a company name to serve you and your customers well.