Welcome to video Fridays from The Start Up Garage
A place where The Startup Garage’s team, answers questions directly from viewers
Key Take Aways From Video:
1) What do you want your Startup to be remembered for?
2) A lot of companies make their name very descriptive, and get pigeon-holed in that one niche, and then in the future want to expand into different markets because they’re stuck with that name.
3) The best name you could come up with is one where people want to wear it and people want to put it on a sticker somewhere and people want to do the advertising for you. If you can get people to do your advertising for you then you have a really great name.
4) One thing to really consider in the digital age is the URL and what the .com is going to look like, creating an effective online presence
5) Is this business name going to fit the mold of the company as I’d like to see it in the future?
Complete transcript below:
Question= “How do I go about naming my startup?”
I like to start with a couple of pretty basic questions. Really what do you want to be remembered by? Is it something that is really going to make you stand out? Or is it to blend in? A lot of financial institution types give themselves very descriptive, by the book names to get that initial market share. And then once they do they kind of achieve that first step, and then they go “Oh we wish we positioned ourselves a little bit more edgy, you know make it stand out a little bit”.
Standing out, going that route often once you get there is a good way to go, so something to think about. A lot of companies make their name very descriptive, and get pigeon-holed in that one niche, and then in the future want to expand into different markets because they’re stuck with that name. You know a lot of companies think “Oh we have this name and this brand, and if we change it they won’t know who we are”. And that is the case you have to be careful about it, but really don’t be afraid to re-brand yourself.
The name doesn’t carry as much weight as you think it does. The best name you could come up with is one where people want to wear it and people want to put it on a sticker somewhere and people want to do the advertising for you. If you can get people to do your advertising for you then you have a really great name. There’s definitely some routes you can go with how to name it. The Startup Garage for example we named our space, our virtual space as the Startup Garage, which was really brilliant if you ask me.
Another route to go is sort of creating a new name with the sounds that your market can relate to. A good example of that is Nike. And then one thing to really consider in the digital age is the URL and what’s going to look like. Te dot com credibility has carried a long way. The perception of having a dot-com is that you’re established, you know you have that space so that’s something to consider, Although don’t be afraid to get a little bit adventurous with your URL because the truth is that of they want to find you they will.
But one thing to really be concerned with the URL is the spelling. A lot of times misspellings direct traffic to the wrong space so you have to be pretty careful about that and make sure it’s well thought out before executing, so keep those questions in mind when choosing a name for your business and just think longevity. Is this business name going to fit the mold of the company as I’d like to see it in the future?
