Remember the Tom Hanks movie, "That Thing You Do"? Do you remember what the band in the movie named themselves? They were The Oneders. They wanted to be like the Beatles and have an unusual spelling of their band name. Well, how did you just pronounce that in your head? Did you remember that it was "The WONDERS", or did you look at it and think, "What the heck is an O'NEEDER? As you may recall, a radio DJ called them, "The O'NEEDERS". Their name was a bit too "out there" and people failed to see the clever little twist on the spelling. It just doesn't pay to get funky with a name.
As you start your business, there are several considerations for naming it. Some people come up with the business name but give no thought to the domain name. You need them to match or your customers won't get to your site and will be confused. Here are some things to think about:
· Domain Names: Domain name experts say that you should limit your domain name to no more than 16 letters. Those shorter names are getting harder and harder to find. So, people sometimes go "funky" and spell common names uncommon ways. Or they add hyphens which also creates a problem. Often, your customers will just end up at the site with the common spelling of your business name. That's never good - especially if that site is a competitor (or a porn site). But, then having a domain name with 37 letters is really hard for customers to get right as they type it in. A domain name can be up to 63 letters - that's like a sentence. Can you imagine trying to get to the right site? Shorter is better, but shorter isn't everything - read on.
· "HUH?" Names: Then there are the names you can't pronounce. There is a company in the scrapbook industry that took me over a year to learn how to say. And even then, whenever I have said it, I hesitate because I don't know if I'm saying it right. It's like when Prince decided to name himself a symbol. How do you pronounce something that looks unpronounceable? What good is a name if no one can say it or spell it?
· "Phansee" (Fancy) Spelling and Foreign Words: Don't get fancy with your name or the spelling. Just because YOU know what that foreign word means (and know it has meaning to your business) doesn't mean that your customers will get it, too. They will most likely just be baffled by the whole thing and unable to spell it properly. If it's too difficult to spell, then stay away from it. Ask others about it - don't rely on yourself to decide. You need some outside input on this one. Others aren't in love with the name or the spelling the way you are. If they are puzzled by it, move on.
· Room to Grow: Another consideration when picking a business name is to make sure your name is appropriately expandable, yet descriptive of your business. Easier said than done in a lot of cases. For instance, my business name is "ScrapBiz". It's very descriptive of what I do, but, if I wanted to help stampers start a business, would it fit? Probably not. It's very narrow in focus. Yet, when Amazon started, it made no sense. I remember thinking, "What a stupid name for a bookstore". It still is a silly name, but they have overcome it. Most of us don't get big enough to overcome those naming oddities. So, as you consider naming your business, do so with thoughtfulness. It will be one of the most important decisions you make as you start down the entrepreneurial path and changing names down the road because you realize you made a mistake is not nearly as easy as making sure you pick the right name in the first place.
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