Ep.9/ How To Pick The Right Brand Name For Your Business
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If you’re an entrepreneur and you’re building a personal brand, you probably asked yourself how you should name your business. You may have asked yourself questions such as:
Shall I name my company using my own name?
Shall I name it using generic words?
Shall I give it the name of the course I’m launching?
I have gone through the trademark registration process for my previous business’s brand name, and I also went through the same process for my current coaching business; therefore, in today’s episode, I will share my biggest takeaway on this experience so this can empower you to make an informed decision on your brand’s name.
I will share some insights and tips for 3 scenarios:
Using generic names for your brand name
Using the name of your product or service for your brand name
Using your personal name for your brand name
1- Using generic names for your brand name
Here’s my experience with using a generic name for a brand name:
My previous business is called Kocoon Spa, but we thought of many other names before deciding on this one, such as Lumiere Spa, Cocoon, etc.
The main issue here was that most generic business names are already registered in the business scope we wanted to register in, and therefore, it was very difficult to come up with something new. In the end, since Cocoon was already registered, we thought of Kocoon with a K – but even that was registered!
Ultimately, we could only register the design of the logo rather than the word itself. Still, better than nothing – and in any case, we were actually more attached to the logo which was very special to us as it was a symbol of our concept, designed by our graphic designer friend. Even if we had to change the name, I reasoned, people would still be able to recognize us by our logo.
If you want to go the generic name way, I would strongly encourage you to research to make sure that the brand name is available in the business category that you want to register.
2- Using the name of your industry or niche in your brand name
Example: Fempreneurs, Bossbabes, soulpreneur etc.
When I started my coaching business, I wanted to cater to people in the health and wellness industry; therefore, I thought I’d call my business Wellnesspreneur.
When I checked for this name’s availability, it was available and not registered. So I went forward with the process… only to find out later that there was a business called “Wellpreneur” already registered, and although its core business was different, the audience was the same. The name was considered too similar, and there was a risk of confusion.
I could either revoke the decision and go deeper in the process, or contact Wellpreneur and ask for their permission.
In the meantime, I had gone through my business journey and realized that I had already outgrown the name Wellnesspreneur. People would come to me asking whether I would work with them if they weren’t wellnesspreneurs, and I thought that having this specification in the name may be too limiting for my career’s future. So I decided not to go forward with the trademark process.
Wellnesspreneur was no longer suitable for what I was aspiring to do anyways.
So if you decide to go this route, of choosing a name based on your niche, make sure there is no risk of confusion with another brand name. Also, unless you’re certain to be able to stick to your niche for years, I would recommend to not choose a name that is too specific and may hinder your growth potential.
3- Using your personal name for your brand name
The only reasons I did not want to use my personal name are:
-If I wanted to register my domain name for my website, it would be myname.com, and that would not be an SEO-friendly URL!
-I also thought that maybe in a couple years I’ll be interested in other things, and if the business carries my name and is owner-centric, it would be difficult to transfer it to a new owner.
but after I went through a lot of writing and reflection around my business, I understood that:
✓ I will always be an entrepreneur. That is in my DNA. Therefore, I will always need my own website under my personal name.
✓ If I wanted to explore a new activity, I could always create an extension under the umbrella of my name.
✓ Although my domain name would not be SEO-friendly, I could always make up for it by using all the other SEO strategies, since Google has more than 200 algorithms for assessing a website!
✓ The business is me, and all my experience and knowledge, so it felt more natural to use my name for it. It could contain everything I wanted to do now and in the future.
✓ I would never get bored with or tired of my name, since I’ve known and used it since I was born.
✓ The value of my business is not in my name (I’m not a celebrity or an influencer!), but in my assets; which are my online products and all the content I continuously create.
So in the end, I’m using Maika Endo. My company is registered as Maika Endo Coaching. I’m 100% happy with this decision. This doesn't eliminate the possibility that I can create other programs with their own brand name under this umbrella, it will still be a Maika Endo - led journey!
Don't put too much pressure on yourself and spend too much energy on it. Why? Because you can always change your name later on, it’s not a big deal! Website URLs, email addresses, and logos are changeable, small to big companies do it, and so can you!
So here’s a little bonus for this episode, Success stories of other entrepreneurs who changed their business OR BRAND name.
For example, did you know that Instagram’s first name was Burbn? Weight Watchers recently became WW. And Pepsi today started out as Brad’s Drink! 😂
When you look at names such as Google, Starbucks, Yahoo...Would the names mean anything to you if you didn’t know what the company was about?
Conclusion
People may not always remember your name, but they’ll remember how you made them feel.
A brand name or logo is nothing without the brand experience. Therefore, I believe that our efforts should focus on branding first. Launch with “a” name, and then experiment along the way…
I invite you to check the show notes, as I have interviewed 3 successful educators about their experience changing their brand name.
This was the last episode of season 1. I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did, and I’ll be back soon for season 2!
I would love it if you could leave a review for Business Clarity on your favorite podcast player- take a screenshot and share it with me by tagging me @maika.endo on Instagram.
I will pick a winner this week, who will get my new ebook - “Nail Your Niche”. A beautifully designed comprehensive workbook designed to empower coaches, creatives, and wellness entrepreneurs to step into their niche with intention and clarity.
Thanks for listening, and speak to you soon!
Kind words from LISTENERS:
“Business Clarity is already proving to be one of the best business podcast for entrepreneurs, and is a welcome reprieve from the noise of other shows. Maika spends a lot of time reflecting on business and it shows: the shows are focused, clear and actionable. What else could you ask for!”
