Mistakes done by entrepreneur in choosing their business name can impact their business success significantly. Smart entrepreneur will put much effort into naming business as they put effort into making business plan, evaluating business risk and other important business decision. This article will help you pointing common mistakes in naming business which you should avoid it to become a successful entrepreneur.



Sometimes entrepreneur made a fatal mistake by naming their business so hard to pronounce. People will hesitant to spread your business name although they are impressed with your product or service just because they have trouble says it. You will lose the chance to have a viral effect because this mistake. It is counterproductive for a young business, so you should avoid it.

Beware of giving your business geographic or generic names. As an entrepreneur you would want to expand your business. However it is still good if you do not have any ambition to expand and just want to exploit that niche.

For example if you gave your business name “New York Car Rental”. What if your company wants to expand to Los Angeles? It would be a troublesome advertising your business in Los Angeles with that name. And what if your company wants to expand into car washing service? People who are looking for car wash would not even have mind to go to your company.

Do not choose name that only appeals to you. Do some research. It is better if you could attract the attention of your target market. Choose comforting or familiar name and do not pick name that are long and confusing or from word that only you can understand. Find name that are memorable, meaningful, expressive, and can be read by average kid.

Stay away from word “Inc.” unless you are actually incorporated, also from giving word “enterprise” behind your company name. It is just for amateur entrepreneur. You do not want to be laughed by other entrepreneur, do you?

After you have got several potential business names, do trademarks search. You do not want to have similar name from your competitor. You may want some help from trademark attorney or a trademark search firm. They could do great job by giving you list of your competitor and similar company whose name are similar to you. Sometimes the list will go to thousand or even between 10,000 to 90,000. Invest a little; it will free you from big trouble in future.

Your competitor could sue you because they consider it as an infringement of their trademark. A legal battle could make you bankrupt just because you do not know that there is a company whose name is similar to you. Imagine if you are bankrupt just because issues like this, not well for entrepreneur who should have a bright future end up in court, or worse jail. This will surely end your journey as an entrepreneur because you did not take some trademark search first.

Last mistakes, do not name your business that will insult local people. Find out if there is a cultural difference that will make your business name insult local people. If you are in doubt ask your employee from that country if you have or just ask local people first whether your company name could stir up some trouble. You could change your business name in that country only for marketing effort. Good luck finding suitable name for your business.