If business owners fail to plan, then they’ve already planned to fail. Why? Because starting a business is something that needs to be thoughtfully planned from start to finish.
In business, planning remains the dividing line between success and failure.
Now, even though we simply cannot plan for everything, situations that lead to statements like, “… I should have planned that better,” should be avoided. They won’t only cost a business owner their time, money, and business opportunities, but their reputation.
And the best way to avoid such situations is through project management.
What is Project Management?
According to Deniz Sasal, project management isn’t like accounting, consulting, or auditing. Rather, it’s a complementary discipline that helps business owners run their projects easily by applying their knowledge, skills, and techniques to execute a project.
Project management allows you to manage the entire life-cycle of your business, from starting to running and executing projects.
Project management is crucial to the running of smooth operations, collaborating with staff around the world, and delivering high-quality projects, whether you’re running a small business or a massive corporation.
Project management is so adaptable that it’s beneficial to everyone, from business owners and freelancers to government officials, doctors, and investors.
There’s literally no profession that wouldn’t see its productivity grow by adapting project management techniques.
Business Naming and Project Management
In 2019 alone, 5.8 million businesses were started, that’s approximately 5.8 million names, not to mention that according to Forbes, it takes about seven seconds for customers to form an impression about your business name.
The market is literally churning with tons of businesses not only willing, but eager, to offer services similar to yours. The only thing that’d make customers—who’ve never had dealings with your business—to look your way, is your brand name appearing by chance on a business accessory such as a corporate swag bag, for example.
And when customers turn to your brand for its products, it’s important that you deliver impeccable services, and one way you can do this is by incorporating project management techniques.
What a Strong Business Name Brings To the Table
A solid business name comes with a lot of advantages that would help your business establish itself in the market. Without the perfect business name, it’d be a lot harder for your business to reach customers.
A great business name would:
- Help customers easily identify your brand from the competition.
- Elevates your standing within your industry.
- Builds a connection with your customers.
- Enhance your brand’s values.
- Attract the right talent.
Although it’s impossible to accurately calculate the effects the wrong name would have on your business, don’t assume that the inferior name you’ve chosen is what your business needs.
Don’t risk your brand by having a less-than-perfect business name.
How To Create a Strong Business Name
Now that you know what project management is and the benefits a strong business name brings to the table, let’s take a look at how we can apply project management techniques in building a strong business name that’ll help your business stand out, and stand firm.
Step 1: Initiating
See your business naming process as a project.
Big Ideas
Start the naming process by defining the project at a broad level. To do this effectively, you and/or your team needs to have a clear understanding of your business and the primary problem it hopes to solve. This would help you know what the big idea of your brand is and decide who you really are as a company.
Set the Tone
But knowing your big ideas isn’t enough; it has to be communicated, in the right tone, to your customers. Brand tones help businesses control how their business is perceived, so setting a brand tone would help you communicate with your customers at a deeper level.
Exceptional brands like Burberry, Gucci, and Chanel use tones that appeal to customers desiring high-end products while customers looking for budget-friendly attires turn to brands like Zara, Pact, and Kotn.
Just like the brands we mentioned above, by understanding your customers, their needs, preferences, and purchasing power, you’d be able to know what tone appeals to them most.
But don’t stop there, make sure you take a deeper look at your industry, particularly your competitors, and understand what kind of brand they’ve set up. This way you’ll be able to present something original to the market.
That said. Here are some brand tone examples for your business’s big ideas.
- Fun and Playful
- Amiable and inviting
- Emotionally impactful
- Pragmatic or practical
- Modern and innovative
Step 2: Planning
Here are the steps to take while planning.
Know Your Elements
Although knowing your business’s big ideas, and setting a brand tone are primary factors to consider, they are not all because they are other areas of your brand image that customers need more information on. And, this is where secondary branding elements come in.
Secondary branding elements are basically the building blocks of your brand, so understanding them would make it easier for customers to understand, value, and appreciate your brand.
Use this information to build your brand.
- Big Ideas: What’s the fundamental idea supporting your brand?
- Values: What specific values do you want your business to communicate to your customers?
- Stories: Is there any story, relating to your business, that you feel will build rapport with customers and investors?
- Industry Specifics: What values, specific to your industry, do you want to uphold?
- Benefits: What do your customers stand to gain from using your services?
- Feelings: Which strong emotion(s) do you hope to trigger from your audience?
- Value Proposition: Summarize your brand in a sentence.
These secondary branding elements, coupled with your primary branding elements, would go a long way in making the naming process easier.
Set Up Your Naming Criteria
The beauty of having naming criteria is that they provide a point of reference where ideas for your brand’s name can grow from.
Now, to set up your naming criteria, simply turn your secondary branding elements into actionable steps.
Step 3: Executing
Now that step 1 and step 2 have been completed, it’s time for an active session of…
Brainstorming
Get your team together, or if you’re a lone wolf, get your notepad and start writing as many names that pop into your mind. Make sure you, or your team, captures every bold and unique name they come across. You can also plug some of your big ideas into a business name generator for some inspiration.
Don’t worry if some names aren’t so great; let your creativity run free. The goal here is to write as many names as you can. But while you’re at it don’t neglect dictionaries and thesauruses because they’re excellent sources of inspiration.
Speaking of inspiration, here are some exciting examples of business names to trigger that creative spark:
- Real Word: Apple
- Misspelled: Lyft
- Compound: Facebook
- Abstract: Orizia
- Transmutations: Zappos
- Acronyms: HP
- Play On Words: EyeQ
- Metaphoric: RobinHood
- Visual: Blue Cabin
- This & That: Abercrombie & Fitch
Remember: Use your naming criteria as a guide to point you in the right direction.
Get Professional Help
The road to naming isn’t always as smooth as we want it to be. Sometimes the process can get so gut-wrenching and frustrating that business owners get stuck for months with no workable brand name in sight.
Time, and the market, don’t wait for anyone. Your competitors are on the move. So get your business on the move too by contacting trusted business naming experts.
There’s no need for wasting valuable time that could’ve been used to improve other areas of your business.
Step 4: Closing
Validate Your Business Name
Your brand name must:
Pass a Functionality Test
Getting a catchy, easy-to-pronounce name isn’t everything. Make sure you test it with an audience to know how your customers would react to it. Do they like it? Can they spell and also pronounce it? What expectations do they have about your brand just by hearing its name? What areas do they think need improvement?
Use these professional methods to test your business name.
One more thing, your brand name should be able to let your business scale in the long-run.
Be Legally Safe
Millions of businesses have already been trademarked. So, to protect your business’s reputation and avoid legal implications, do a thorough search on Google, and the USPTO’s official site to make sure your brand name hasn’t been claimed already.
Enjoy Your Name
Understand that there’s nothing wrong with having an unconventional brand name. What matters is that it meets your naming criteria, is loved by your customers, inspires your employees, and would support the growth of your business.
That said, a great brand name would set you ahead of competitors, build an emotional connection with your customers that’ll let you secure their loyalty.
