How To Know Your Company Name Ideas Work
Whether you’re a soloist entrepreneur starting your own company or a marketing professional, business names are unanimously important. A business name, after all, is the beginning and end of your brand. It signifies the birth of your enterprise and will carry on your business’s legacy long after your operations have ceased. With all that being said, you wouldn’t want your business name to be the epitome of all dull business names now – would you?
Although being granted the Guinness World Record for the Most Boring Business Name is a pretty epic achievement on a whole different (and bizarre) level, I still think you’d be dissatisfied with it – if there ever is one (lol). After all, it feels much better to be remembered on a good note. I think your sons and daughters would appreciate you not being awarded with a world record like that as well.
Case in point, no matter what your association is with business name creation; the only thing that matters is whether the names you create works or flunks.
And here are a couple of practical ways to find out whether your business name suggestions can make or break the market scene:
Do an Experiment
One classic – and definitely more valid – way of discovering and recording public responses is through conducting short experiments. Not a mad genius type of experiment but more of a consumer-market one. Here’s a step-by-step process on how you can do this:
- Find a sample population first. Of course, these people need to specifically come from your product’s niche in order to become a representative sample of the general population. Some of the methods you can use is Random Sampling, Snowball Sampling, or Stratified Random Sampling (click here for full details).
- Prepare the materials for the experiment. After gathering the right people, you will then need the right materials for the experiment. It would be ethical to let your sample know what the experiment is about and what you hope to achieve by doing the experiment. Just be careful and try not to say too much – or else the experiment would be compromised. An experiment you can do, for example, is to flash several “suggested” names on a screen. The names that are most frequently recalled may be interpreted as the ones that may have better impact when marketed.
- Set Parameters. When doing an experiment, it is important that you specify which results are significant and which ones are not. If you’re dealing with simple values you can probably learn to interpret the results yourself. If you’re quite unsure of how everything goes, you can always consult with a statistician.
- Give Meaning To The Statistical Data You Acquire. So you’ve got numbers, huh? But numbers alone won’t do. You need to transform it into understandable and actionable terms. If you’ve discovered that a certain set of words (name) shows positive correlation with your sample’s memory retentiveness, then you could utilize the same words in your business name – or even in company tag lines!
Consult With SMEs (Subject Matter Experts)
Some people have been in the business long before you even set one foot in. These people are already seasoned with experience and skill, thus, it would be wise to consult your naming prowess with them. No offense, but it is all too often that overestimate (or underestimate our own capabilities. Plus, there’s the matter of everyone not having the same tastes. What could be a good name for us may sound terrible to others, and vice versa. Soliciting for third party opinions, an expert’s especially, can really help you close the gaps.
Accept Friendly Criticism
Another good source of third-party opinion is from people we are closely associated with – like friends and family. Note that the keyword there is “closely.” Opinions coming from brief or shallow acquaintances tend to be biased or vague. I mean, people can’t really come out and say what they really think to someone they hardly even know. If you’re looking for real, authentic and sometimes “harsh” criticism of your naming sense, try asking a best friend or a sister with a well-known reputation for being brutally honest and cold. They should be able to give you a more sound advice.
