What’s in a name?

Apple was inspired by Steve Jobs’ love of fruit, Reebok was named after a South African antelope and Google reportedly started as a joke between friends.

It’s easy to get over-awed when trying to come up with your business name, but here’s my tip: just have some fun with it!

Step 1 – coming up with your name. There are lots of ways of coming up with a business name – it could be descriptive, abstract, based on colours, actions or words. I reckon asking your kids is a really good starting point. They’re really in tune with what’s attractive to them and won’t be biased by everything that’s going around in your head.

Step 2 – make it real. Nobody wants to be dealing with [email protected] when they’re doing business. In the age of spammers trying every tactic under the sun to get into your inbox, you need to be more professional than that. So the second step is checking whether your business name’s web domain is available, eg. joebloggs.com.au. This is easy and cheap and will get you on your way. 

Step 3 – protect yourself. Once you’ve set up your domain name, the final step is to claim ownership of your business name by copyrighting it. This usually costs around $200-$300 and will protect you from IP infringement and perhaps most importantly, give you the right to sell your brand on one day.

Keep in mind, the strongest brands in the world started with a simple idea. Don’t over-think it, just get started and see where it leads you!