It is exciting – and very scary – when you’ve made the decision to turn something you love into a creative business (even if it’s just a side hustle). One of the toughest things to do is choose a name to call your new baby for hopefully all of eternity. I put together a short list of steps to take when deciding, so you don’t make all the same mistakes that I made (aka having to change my business name as my business started to take off). The goal is to do it right the first time – even if you just plan to start a creative Instagram account, thinking about the future is always a good idea.
FIGURE OUT WHAT YOUR BUSINESS IS GOING TO DEAL WITH
Obviously, before you can pick a business name, you need to figure out what your business will deal with. For me, I knew I wanted my business to be all about design and calligraphy, so my name needed to encompass a few different creative services. You don’t want to find your name first – have a good idea of the basics of your business, and then think of the best name ever.
THINK OF THINGS, PEOPLE, NAMES, YOU LOVE
I knew when I named my business that I wanted to use my name, but in a non-obvious way. So I picked MJ, short for Mariah Jade, my first and middle names. Not everyone wants to name their business after themselves though – and sometimes it’s not the best idea either. A business name can be as simple as a couple of words you like, but it will have more meaning if you choose something that you love or that makes you happy.
Some ideas could include: your favorite flower, favorite color, grandma’s name, parents name, tool of your trade, location, pretty adjectives, and so many more.
PICK A NAME BROAD ENOUGH TO NEVER HAVE TO CHANGE
Did you know? My original “business name” was Mariah J Halvorson | Design & Lettering. I wanted to, and had to, change it for quite a few reasons. First of all, I knew that I would be getting married some day – and it would be a pain in the butt to build my business up and have to change everything with “Halvorson” after getting married – my domain name included.
Secondly, I had to change it because I didn’t want to box myself into a corner by naming the things I do in my business. Yes, I do offer design and lettering services, but when I decided to change my name, I knew it wasn’t the only thing I wanted to be known for. And presently, I’m so glad I did because a huge part of my business now is letterpress. Choosing “Creative Co” as part of my name fits my business so well, and won’t ever need to be changed because no matter how I change my business, it encompasses all creative services I may do.
So, before you think about just adding lettering, signs, calligraphy, painting, etc. to the end of your business name and calling it a day, think about the possible future of your business. If there is a possibility you will ever do more than just that specific thing – try finding something that is more broad. A lot of people assume that you need to have exactly what you do in your business name, but it’s not necessary. Yes, it’ll make it super easy for people to figure out what your business is about, but it’s your choice – your business name can literally be anything you want.
DO THE PROPER RESEARCH
Once you’ve found a few names you would like, please PLEASE do your research. Nothing is worse than not doing your research, paying for a domain, and starting to build your brand only to realize that someone already has the same name (or something very similar). It’s even worst for the person who already has that name. It’s happened to me before, recently, where someone popped up on Instagram and with a website and everything, and they were using the same name as me. They obviously didn’t do any research to see if someone else already had that name (which I did).
It’s so important to do the research because you want to start your business without being in the shadow of another, successful business. Plus, you don’t want to create a situation where confusion builds and people go to someone else’s website when they’re looking for you (or, frankly, your website when they are looking for the more established business).
So, before you go buying that domain and start your website or social media, check on Google, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Etsy, etc. and make sure it’s a unique name. If it isn’t, go back to the drawing board and try again.
TAKE THAT NAME BEFORE ANYONE ELSE DOES
Congrats! You’ve picked a name you love, done the research and no one else is using it, so now it’s time to take the leap. Buy that domain name, and make profiles on all relevant social media channels to make sure you grab it before anyone else swoops in. Even if you don’t think you’re going to use the social media right away, it’s not a bad idea to take your business name on a social media site in case you want to use that site sometime in the future.
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