Naming a business is a key branding exercise. It is like laying a keystone of your structure. Your business name needs to be unique, but more importantly is should be something that connects with your target audience. It is one of the most crucial aspects in shaping the visibility of any business. You need to do competitive research, keyword research and take a lot of inspiration from successful businesses in your niche to finally come with a name that works for your nutrition business. Here are some common mistakes people make while naming a business. Stay away from these.
Taking Everyone’s Opinion
It’s really good to involve friends and family’s opinion, but every person has a different perspective. As an RDN you know what your business revolves around and your family might lack that outlook. It’s good to take notes from them, but the final decision should be yours. The best way is to involve people who have knowledge about nutrition business. Choose few people, but the right people in the process of making the final decision.
Choosing a Difficult Or Tricky Name
If the name that you have chosen has a deep meaning, but it is difficult to spell or pronounce, then you’ll have to let it go. A tricky name is not good for memorizing. Leave behind ambiguous metaphors that your prospects will not be able to understand. Try and stay away from technical names too.
Choosing Names With Trademark Issue
Once you have finalized the name, it’s time for a quick drill — to check that name is not already taken by any other brand or business. You will have tough time establishing your identity and it may also land you in legal issues. After finalizing the name it is a good exercise to book the domain name too; since your business will need a website for online presence. A quick tip here: Try to make your name or last name as a part of your brand. One of my clients (for whom I designed the business cards) did the same.
Using Ordinary Words
There are various business categories that get away with simple names like – General Motors. However, you are into nutrition business, your name should be catchy so that you can attract audiences. Imagine if Facebook had to be called – KnowYourFriends.com, then it would have been a disaster. Such names do not blend with any industry. Nutrition business is an industry where you have to target a niche people and if you have a boring name then there will be no takers. And in the reign of new media and advertising channels, it’s immensely important to carve out your niche by projecting your USP. This objective can be achieved only by a well thought name.
Including Area-centric Names
When you own a food truck targeting people only from your locality, then you can have an area-centric name. Area-centric names can prove fruitful when you are targeting people from your locality who can then become your future client. This will in some way restrict the scope of your audience. The business expansion should be your ultimate motto and for the same you will need to weigh the pros and cons of including the name of geographical area in your business name.
Weird Combination Of Words
‘Keep it simple’ always works. Avoid using weird combination of words; avoid words which don’t hold any significance for your area of expertise. You may fall for it while searching for a domain name, one of the first steps for starting an online nutrition business. You may like to check out complete list here. Get creative with keywords and your personal identity. It will be advantageous in long run.
In short, research, analyze and tap your creativity, and avoid these common mistakes at all costs. It’s your business name. It should clearly reflect what you stand for.
