Owning a small business is a dream for many. And with hard work and perseverance, plenty of folks will find success. That said, starting and running a company does take a lot of effort. And one of the first challenges you’ll encounter is simply coming up with good store name ideas. Fortunately, you can use services like Namify and we’ve got some insightful tips that will make the business name selection process easier.
When coming up with a store name, make sure you consider the following factors. While this list isn’t exhaustive, it will help you get started. You’ll want to put together a long list of candidates and then select the name most likely to produce success. What does that mean? We’ll dig in.
Does The Name Explain What Your Store Sells?
People are busy. Whether they’re walking down the street or scrolling through search engines, many folks are in a rush and they’ll home in on the businesses that they think will satisfy their needs. When selecting names, you want to clearly state what it is you sell and what you offer to customers.
Let’s say someone is looking for a craft store and they type “craft store” into their phone. A list of business names comes up, including “Stacey’s Crafts,” “John’s Store,” and “the Bodega.” Which name do you think they’ll pay attention to? There’s a good chance it’ll be “Stacey’s Crafts” simply because it clearly signifies that it’s what they are looking for. Who knows what they sell at the Bodega or John’s Store? They might sell crafts stuff, but they might not.
Some big brands don’t include descriptors in their name. However, if you look through their corporate history, you’ll often find that their name originally did include descriptions. As their brand grew and became synonymous with their industry, the need for descriptors declined. Some day, your company could be big enough and well-known enough to drop the descriptors. For now, including them is a safer bet, and name generation services like Namify can help with that.
The Success Is In The Details
They say the devil is in the details. With store names, you often find that success is in the details. If you own only a single store that focuses on serving a particular community, you should consider adding geographical descriptions. Let’s say you operate a craft store in fictional “Amityville”. You might call your store “Amity Crafts” or “Crafts in Amityville.”
Likewise, if you specialize in something very specific, it’s wise that your name reflects the specifics. Let’s say you run a golf store. Your first name idea might be something like “Fairway Sports”, but is that really a good name? Sports can mean a lot of things and someone looking for hockey equipment might show up and be disappointed. “Fairway Golf” is a safer name.
It’s also smart to make sure that the name is unique. If there’s a store called “Fairview Golf” in town, you may want to choose something besides Fairway Golf as that might be too similar to the competition. This could lead to legal issues and also may make it harder for people to find your business.
Also, check to make sure that website domains and social media handles are available. In some cases, you may not be able to get a good social media handle or domain name for a certain business name. If so, you may want to choose a different business name. By using services like Gamify, however, you can make the whole name selection process easier.