A very early task in the life of your business to choose a business name.

You need a name, even if it’s only a name for the bank account into which your customers are going to deposit money.

Choosing the right name is often difficult.

It’s also something that lots of new businesses get wrong> It’s important to think carefully about your choice of business name because correcting mistakes can be costly.

You have a number of choices.

Trade under your own name

That’s the choice I made when I started out. It’s easy and straightforward. It’s not a problem as far as recognition of the name is concerned because your early customers are likely to be people you already know.

Some businesses will worry a little about your employment status. Will they end up being perceived as your employer if you are simply trading under your own name? However, there are additions you can make to your name to try to get around that.

Your name – tax specialist
Your name – design consultant
Your name – link to your specialism.

Choose a name linked to your specialism

Lots of businesses do this. These names are helpful because they tell people who don’t know you what to expect of you.

………………financial planning consultants
………………financial management
………………criminal law specialists
………………internet communications.

This is fine – up to a point. However, you may change what you do over time. That could mean that the name you choose now won’t fit your business in the future.

Choose a name linked to your location

If you see yourself and your business serving a local area then linking your business to the locale makes sense. It helps to differentiate your from the competition. If you’re a dentist in a particular town, then local residents will be aware of this,  if your practice’s name includes the name of the town where you are situated.

This works for all types of professional services.  If you’re a legal firm, an insurance broker, a design agency you can link yourself to an area by putting the town or the region in your business name.

Where I live there are lots of companies that refer to themselves as Chiltern (name). That’s because the Chiltern Hills are a well-known geographical feature. The next area north is Aylesbury Vale and so on.

The big problem, of course, is that you might relocate your business. Then you’ll find the name doesn’t work.

Choose an unusual business names

Then, of course, you could choose a quirky business name, a name that is memorable or sounds good, or has a resonance about it. The problem with these sorts of names is that they only mean something to people who are in on the joke or the secret or who understand the meaning of the words you use.

This can work well. Green Thumb works for lawn treatment consultants, for example.

If you choose an unusual name you also need to write your story about your choice of name. How did you come to be …… whatever your name is?

However, these names can cause you problems. For one thing they can date quickly. Choose this sort of name and you could quickly find you’ve linked yourself to a concept that has gone out of fashion. Then you’ll have to rebrand.

The right business name

It’s a good idea to think about how people are likely to find you when you come to decide on your business name.

For me, most people have heard of my name before they think of doing business with us. They have heard me speak. They have read something I have written. They have attended a training programme I have delivered. Someone has recommended me.

Thus, I need people to find my name. They can find me via a Google search. They can find me on Twitter and so on.

I also work hard on my search engine optimisation (SEO) strategy so people looking for help with their value proposition, their customer pipeline, their USP, social media and their business communications can also find me.

That means my business name works for me.

This is tip seven in a series of one hundred tips for people starting a consulting business.

So how did you decide on your business name?

Have you changed your business name along the way?

Let me know in the comments. I’d love to hear your story.