How does one come up with a name for a company?
How does one come up with a name for a company?
So i am in the middle of starting my own company in computer support(focusing on teaching people how to use email, printer etc and solving problems that might be standing in their way). But i need a name, website, Email and phone number. The last one i have figured out as that is just a if it is kind of easy to remember its okay. But figuring out an E-mail and website requires a name for the company.
I have heard some people that named company’s with their name in it and regret it later. So how would one properly name a company? I am based in the EU if it matters but i don’t think this is something that is different in different cultures.
Things i currently think about are (my name) tech service and (my location(city)) tech service but i don't know if that is a good idea and if i might get regrets in the future(for example when expanding to more locations or getting employees).
Thanks for your vision on this.
Many company names are short wordplays or acronyms with the founders‘ name(s) or location, or with the kind of manufactured goods or types of business. Examples are ALDI, Lidl, Audi H&M, Adidas for names, or Prada, BMW for location, or IBM, SAP for types of business.
The Asian way seems to be different though, as company names often represent symbols of good fortune, as in Samsung, Sony, Hyundai, but also Nike.
It’s probably wise to avoid clichés (kool) or insults in common languages („Fuck“ printing and publishing in Germany) too.
short, positive, easy to remember, gives away what it is immediately, easy to make a logo with, no umlauts or other more complicated letters, check what others in your industry are called and make sure you are easily distinguishable, make sure your name isn't already in use as it can be expensive to change it later
Tom Tech - alliterations also work well
Remember that someone named their company "apple". In the beginning, everyone would have thought it is an idiotic name. In the end, it will not be the name, but whether you can make a name for yourself by doing your business well.
Maybe ask suggestions to chatgpt?
I was saving this for my own company, if I open it some day (not likely to happen though), but here goes: KoolTech.
Some might like it, some might not... I think it's kool 😁.
that one is an already existing company making google searches hard for a small company kool play on words tough
Well, no one had it registered back when I thought of it... oh well, there goes that idea down the drain.
Maybe a play on words, like K00LTech 🤷. Or maybe 1337Tech... or maybe just LeetTech... IDK, just throwing ideas.
A name means almost nothing. And it means almost anything. It depends on context, so it's not possible to give a plain answer to your question.
You could pick a word or phrase that is easy to understand and spell ("Blacktower" just came to my mind as an example) - but you must check that it's available in the channels you need, e.g. a dot-com domain.
Avoid creative invented words. In my industry, there's a thing called "Qapter", and do you think anyone can spell that right? But there are many other invented words that are clear as day, like "Stellantis".
You could even ask OpenAI to give you a list of words that meet some criteria you provide. You still need to check each one for existing uses and domain availability.
Coming up with a name is big business. Just ask any auto maker.
What is the company's purpose? What is it's main goals? Who are you as a person?
These are a series of questions you have to find the answers for, that you have to ask yourself, before coming up with a name.
You can play around with acronyms, that's what we did.
IT & technology teaching service:
IT2tease (since the "te" is doubled), and it's a decent play on words with tease/ease.
What you want is a name that can't be misspelled when only hearing the name, hence I'd absolutely recommend against anything like kool or l33t, or your word of mouth clients google the name and end up with a competitor with 'correct' spelling.
You can of course also incorporate your name and city, but if you are offering online services, that can be detrimental if potential customers assume you are only working with local clients. For example if you're called "Boston IT Service Tech Ltd." or something generic, a company in L.A. might not even go further. Whereas "Global IT Service Tech Ltd." might at least get a cursory review.
It would be a good idea to write a few sentences about how your future business will operate, the ethos you're aiming for, what exactly you'll be offering, any Unique Selling Point/s you have, and your intended brand image. These would be good terms to Google to get a rough idea of how it applies to your business if you're not sure.
After this, if nothing jumps out at you, try asking ChatGPT or another AI for suggestions using the outline you've already written. I use it to bounce ideas off occasionally. Do remember to search up any suggestions it has for you, though, in case it gives you something that already exists!
To me it makes sense to stay away from your name or location in case you want to sell the business or expand. Generic and memorable is good like maybe CompAssist or ComputerHelpers, but unfortunately a lot of those domain names are taken. Geography might help, like maybe ValleyTopTech or MountainGeeks or RiverComputerHelp.
Good luck!