Business Name Types and Pros and Cons of Each Type

Descriptive names

Richmond Taxis, Mike's Motorcycle Repairs, Phones4U are examples of descriptive business names. The name itself tells you what the business does. One advantage of descriptive names is that you don't need to spend thousands of dollars telling people about the services you offer; your name does the job for you. The downside of descriptive names is that it can be hard to find a unique name for your new business. Unless you are one of the first people to set up a business in your field, you will probably find that the best names have already been trademarked. Moreover, you may find the name limiting if you diversify or expand at a future stage. If Mike decides to repair trucks and automobiles as well as motorcycles and if Richmond Taxis expand into other towns, their names will be a barrier to customer acceptance.

Your own name

Jackson and Sons, Coleman Associates, Brenda's Bridalwear are examples of names based on the owner's or founder's own name.

These are good names for certain types of businesses, especially those whose customers are local - plumbers, builders, electricians etc - as research shows that many people trust locally based craftsmen. Names which suggest that the business is family-owned and goes back a long way, those containing 'and Sons' or 'and Daughter', for instance, are good for craft-based businesses or firms in a traditional field eg picture-framing, furniture-making, restoration work. If you're in a technological or computer-related field, or in an industry where innovation is valued more than tradition and loyalty - marketing, say - then sounding as if you're a long-standing family firm isn't such a good choice.

Made-up names

Aquascutum, Microsoft, Adidas are examples of coined, or made-up names; the words don't exist in dictionaries. Since most short words that are in the dictionary are already trademarked as business names, it can be hard to find a name based on an existing English word. A made-up name will be easier to trademark. Business names consisting of newly coined words are a good idea for companies which operate in many different countries where English is not necessarily understood. Because there are so many words in English with Latin and Greek origins, names with aqua or micro in the title sound familiar, so we are happy to accept them.

Quirky spellings and unusual punctuation

Krispy Kreme, Design-4-U, Pro/Forma are examples of names with deliberate misspellings or unusual spellings, or which include numbers and unexpected punctuation marks. They can sometimes be very effective - K is a much more striking letter than a C, for instance - and are often chosen because the correct spelling has already been taken by another company. Unless you spend a lot of money telling your potential customers how your name is spelled, which means lots of print and poster advertising and frequent mentions in the press, you may miss out on business because people will be looking under the wrong letter in the phone directory, or will type in Proforma without the slash. Business that was destined for you may well end up going to your rival.

Something completely different

Apple, Orange, Virgin are examples of names that are completely different from other companies in their fields, and some of the most successful companies have names like this. Such names necessarily involve massive advertising and awareness campaigns to tell people what exactly the company does, as the name on its own gives no information. Any word evokes images and pictures in people's minds; an apple is healthy and easily available, an orange is bright and Virgin suggests the qualities of being new and a pioneer in unknown territory. Potential customers will associate all of these positive qualities with the business.