Many people believe that choosing a name for your business has a lot of pressure associated with it. For example, consider Apple, the trillion dollar technology giant whose products we use in our everyday lives. When Apple first started, nobody knew who they were or what they stood for. Over time, they grew their brand into a household name that will likely be known for many years to come. In this example, choosing a name seems scary because you want to find a name that people will remember and associate with your brand for decades.

However, choosing a name does not need to be scary. Over time your brand will grow and your name will become more recognizable, so choosing a name that does not seem “right” or “descriptive enough” is not necessarily a death sentence for your business. Remember, Facebook was once just a funny word. Now, 50% of the world’s population has an account on their website. 

Here are some tips to help make choosing your business name feel less overwhelming:

Follow state naming guidelines

Every state has state-specific naming requirements, and Iowa is no different. In Iowa, every LLC or corporation registered must have a unique and distinguishable business name. If you are unsure whether your business name is already taken, you can search for incorporated businesses who may have similar names to yours. Check out the Iowa Secretary of State’s Understanding Name Availability in Iowa article for more information on what names are okay and which ones are not.

If you want to register your business as an LLC (Limited Liability Company), you must include LLC at the end of the name. 

If you want to register a Sole Proprietorship or business partnership using a trade name, you would do so with your county recorder’s office. A trade name is a name under which any person or partnership engages in business activity using other than their true name(s). You may have heard this concept called a DBA, or Doing Business As. Essentially, the trade name informs the public “who” they are doing business with but does not reserve any rights to the name itself. LLCs and other corporations in the state do not file for a trade name.

Normally, you submit your business name when you register your business. If you will not be filing to register your business fairly soon, you can reserve your business name with the Secretary of State. Though this is not always advised by IASourceLink or our partners, if your team feels this is a necessary step to getting the business name you desire, you can submit the application through the Fast Track Filing System. 

Avoid similarities to competitors

When naming your business, research your potential competitors’ names so that you do not accidentally name your business a similar name. You do not want your customers to accidentally confuse you two. Consider the availability of social media handles and web addresses if they will be critical to your business’s strategies.

If another business exists with the same name as yours, technically, you can still have the same name, even if it is in the same city. You must be in a different industry or provide different products and services. If you register your business with the Secretary of State, you may be notified if your business name is too similar to another in their system.

Choose a name that is easily pronounced and spelled

You probably have come across multiple businesses where you could not immediately pronounce their name “correctly.” This confusion can harm your business branding, especially when your customers try to recommend your business to their friends or family. They may struggle to remember your business name or its spelling, making it hard for them to actually recommend your business.

Sometimes you cannot help your company name being hard to pronounce or spell. For example, if you use your last name in your business name, you may not be able to avoid people mispronouncing or misspelling it. Regardless, you should still consider this factor and if the difficulty will do too much harm to your business branding.

Ensure your name is web friendly

In a modern economy, businesses must have an online presence through methods such as websites, social media channels, and advertisements on search engines. If your business name is too long or does not stand out on a screen, you may find difficulty getting traction online.

For example, imagine your business name is “John Doe’s Awesome Greenhouses, LLC.” The domain name “JohnDoesAwesomeGreenhousesLLC.com” is available, but it is 29 characters long. Although the domain name accurately represents your business, having to type that many characters into the URL increases the chances that a customer will misspell the URL and become frustrated, potentially leading to less visits to your website or customers believing you may be inactive or out of business. In this instance, it may be appropriate to shorten your domain name to something like “JDGreenHouses.com.”

We encounter thousands of headlines, emails, videos, and advertisements everyday in our professional and personal lives. Yet, sometimes it can feel overwhelming seeing and learning about so many things, causing us to struggle to remember everything. As a result, choose a business name that is unique enough that it will stand out and be memorable to customers but not too wild or weird that they will easily forget or negatively perceive it.

Branding is a huge deal in business. How your customers view you, your products, your services, your employees, and your willingness to go the extra mile all matter. In the beginning, your brand is virtually nonexistent. As you grow, your name will become more ingrained with the image that people associate with your brand.

You can name your business after something that you do, but be careful as your brand evolves. Imagine you name your home renovation business, “Rustic Remodels,” but you transition to making office spaces more “modern.” Now, your name does not match what you are known for, which can confuse customers. Be careful that your name and brand match to help your customers know who you are.

Do not limit your business with its name

Again, imagine your business name is “John Doe’s Awesome Greenhouses, LLC.” Your business name corresponds to what you produce: greenhouses. But what happens when you expand and begin selling seeds and planters to your customers to use in the greenhouses you build? What if you begin tilling gardens for people? The name you originally chose signifies you only build greenhouses, but now your business includes so much more. If you had named your business “John Doe’s Greenworks,” it would have communicated the idea that you provide a variety of plant- and outdoor-related services. 

You can apply this same idea to using your city’s name. For instance, imagine you named your business “Des Moines TV Club.” If you decide to offer your services in Ames, would you change your name in that city to “Ames TV Club?” You could, but the branding that you built up in Des Moines would do little to help build your business in Ames. Instead, consider naming your business “Iowa TV Club” or “Midwest TV Club,” in case you leave the state. 

As you choose your business name, allow for room to grow your business without its name limiting it.