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The idea of exactly what your business is going to be usually comes first. Secondly, most often, is giving a title to your idea. What exactly is going to be the name of your business? Some people turn to their childhood for inspiration or a beloved family pet. It could be a made up word you dream of one night and feel it has the right ring to it. Even still there are some people who study foreign words for the perfect meaning behind their chosen business. Whatever the inspiration or relation may be, the naming of your business is one of the most important parts of becoming a CEO. Having a brand behind a strong title can make all the difference in the world.
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An easier name that communicated optimism
My business name is Ascend Communication, LLC. I have been an independent communication/PR professional for 15 years. The original name was Lorelei K. Harloe, Public Relations/Marketing Communication — a mouthful for your standard networking name badge (!) and too much for a URL. Several years ago I changed it to Ascend Communication for an easier name that also communicated optimism, rising to the challenge, and taking my clients’ efforts upwards. My tagline is “Ideas with Reach” — ties into Ascend, and communicates reach in terms of reaching their target audiences.
Thanks to Lorelei Harloe, Ascend Communication, LLC
Corporate caliber on a small budget
The name is reflective of my 15+ years spent in the corporate world. In that time, I have acquired a significant amount of marketing, advertising, PR and event planning experience. At my last job, I did marketing for large, national childcare franchise and served as a consultant to the individual franchisees and assisted them with their marketing. I quickly learned that there are a surprising amount of business owners out there that are completely unaware of the importance of marketing or even the need for consistent efforts to see results. Many of them cannot afford to employ an in-house marketing team, which is where my business comes in. I provide /_corporate caliber _/experience and ideas but on a small business budget, making growth attainable for them.
Thanks to Shantae Jones, Corporate Caliber Media and Marketing, LLC
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A name that made sense and one my clients could relate to
When I decided to open up my own business I knew that I wanted to choose a name that not only made sense but one that my clients could relate too. The idea behind my business was to create an environment where women could feel comfortable coming to and swapping their clothing. Growing up, one of my favorite things to do before a night out with the girls, was have my closest friends come over so we could all get ready together. We would swap stories, makeup, jewelry and clothing! 25 years later I am still sharing my closet with friends, so Laney’s Closet was the perfect choice. The name of my business translated literally is me sharing my (business) closet with my members!
Thanks to Laney Vivo, Laney’s Closet
A name to honor my mother, my events and my heritage
My mother was the one who encouraged me to really take my business to where it is today. Before she passed away she encouraged me to focus on my business and create a company with integrity and value. I wanted to choose a business name that would honor her and since I take pride in my events and my heritage, when choosing a new name for my company I wanted something that represented both. I ensure every detail is always perfect for every event whether big or small, so Always Perfect! was the obvious choice, and translated in my native language of Tagalog Perfect is Perpekto.
Thanks to Wenda Evans, Always Perpekto!
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Something that reflects the duality of the product
Janus Music & Sound is a record label and music production company devoted to Argentine Tango and contemporary classical music. Both cultural products are usually not mixed, and they do have quite different marketing channels. Nevertheless, in the music I do (and promote) there is no contradiction between both worlds, but a peaceful coexistence. Furthermore: tango and experimental avant-garde don’t barely live side-by-side, they can also develop a synergy, one style supporting the other one. So the name of the company should reflect this duality, but at the same time exude some kind of unity: the integration of dissimilarity, whereby diversity doesn’t loose its character. So I came to the god Janus from the ancient Roman mythology, that “bifrons” usually depicted as having two faces (since he looks to the past and to the future). In the case of my recording label: Janus symbolizes tango (= the tradition) & experimental music (= the future), i.e. both expressive worlds. And in general, Janus embodies everything that is “bilingual”, everything dual. But “Janus” alone wouldn’t have been enough, since it doesn’t explain what the company actually does. So I added the words Music and Sound. Music: it’s self-explanatory. Sound: because it leaves the door open to the worlds of electronic music, sound design or film music. If something sounds too “strange” to some, and they are unsure whether it is really still music, everybody would agree that it is at least sound. Also notice that the initials are JMS, the same as in Juan María Solare, because the label puts emphasis on my output. Last, the company’s logo reflects visually this unified duality, thanks to UK artist Alban Low, who designed it.
Thanks to Juan María Solare, Janus Music & Sound
A name to describe what we do
To help companies generate revenue is the goal of a marketing company so I wanted to somehow use that in the name of the company. At the time I had a partner so we just started making up words. It was a fun experience. Eventually we landed on RevBuilders Marketing. A marketing company that builds revenue. Interesting thing is, at the time our target market and solutions were aimed at Real Estate Associations, so the name worked well. However once we started expanding beyond our original concept of helping real estate associations create non-dues revenue and into more of an integrated marketing company, helping all companies with their online and offline marketing we did run into folks thinking we were a builder. But it has always been a good conversation starter.
Thanks to Scot Small, RevBuilders Marketing
Be a tail to lions, rather than a head to foxes
My business name is Tail of the Lion, Inc. It comes from an ancient Talmudic saying “Be a tail to lions, rather than a head to foxes.” The idea is that it’s better to attach yourself to excellence, even if you’re struggling to keep up (the tail of the lion) rather than finding a place of mediocrity where you can be a hot shot. An example would be, it’s better to go to a top school where you’re going to have to struggle to keep up with the other students rather than going to a school where you know the caliber of students is below you so that you can breeze through.
Thanks to Dave Mason, Tail of the Lion, Inc.
Thought of in a pub
Like many good Aussie inventions, QuayPay was thought of at the pub. We wanted a name that would be easy to remember, mean something to the product and be a smart choice for SEO and .com availability. The pub was also a catalyst for many of the product ideas ‘What if we could pay for this beer with NFC on our phone and be rewarded for it”. My co-founders and I were drinking in Circular Quay. Our company name QuayPay will always remind me of the creative brainstorming that started our company. It is also a reminder of how quickly we can turn an idea into a business today. We registered the .com domain name and the trademark from our phone in the pub. Our ACN and ABN came a week later and our first client within the month.
Thanks to Jon McFarlane, QuayPay
Being immediately recognized
Choosing the correct business name for our online business was a crucial part in our early business planning. We considered both pragmatic and abstract names. Whilst choosing a more abstract name could have had benefits in terms of the audience retention of that name if unique enough, we felt that in doing this we would sacrifice the immediate recognition factor in conveying our services and objectives. As an online job board we wanted to to be immediately recognized and leave no ambiguity as a business/website which is involved in the employment industry, the use of ‘Job’ in the name was a vital part of that recognition. We chose to join this word to ‘Flex’ as it clearly represents the flexible nature of the vacancies we are providing to job seekers, namely Part time, contract, and temporary.
Don Robertson, JobFlex
My initials, backwards
A little known fact is that my business name came from my initials, backwards. My name is Miles Andrew Burke, so I used BAM to create Bam Creative. It was a spur of the moment decision 11 years ago, and it has stuck ever since. Most clients are unaware of the connection, which is the way I like it.
Thanks to Miles Burke, Bam Creative
A catchy, vivacious business title
I am one of the countries youngest Marriage Celebrants and I wanted my business name to reflect my fun personality and the vibrant nature of the ceremonies I perform. Instead of just using my name, Michelle Anderson- Celebrant, I wanted to come up with a catchy, vivacious business title. And then, like a lightbulb, it came to a friend of mine – “Your name is Michelle and you are a Celebrant so your name should be Michell é brant!” And so it is! When you read it or say it, it’s impossible not to laugh!
Thanks to Michelle Anderson, Michell é brant
A name to reflect that transformation was possible
As I was creating my business name, I knew I wanted it to reflect the transformation that was possible. It started out more as a mantra for myself but I felt it would also resonate really highly with the clients that I wanted to work with too. The ultimate outcome was to ‘Be Brilliant’! Going in to register the business name, I waited in the queue with nervous anticipation as this was my first official move in to this new pursuit. My turn comes, I bound up to the counter and with passion and gusto, I share that I want to register my business name ‘Be Brilliant’. After a couple of minutes of tapping on his computer he looks up with an almost apologetic expression on his face and says ‘I’m so sorry Julie-Anne but you can’t have that name. Do you have something else in mind?’ I stammer and stutter and say how can that be I checked before I came down here? He said there was someone who was operating a different business but it was close enough to not be able to give the name to me. Some of the other people behind the counter came over to help brainstorm and I said quietly ‘… but I want it NOW!’ We all look at each other… tap tap tap on the computer he comes back and says Yes you can have that one! You can have Be Brilliant Now. And in that moment on 26th October 2004 my new enterprise Be Brilliant Now was born. To this day I’m always delighted when people comment, that’s such a gr eat business name, I want to be brilliant now!
Thanks to Julie-Anne Black, Be Brilliant Now
Taking street names
We are a small but growing Executive Outplacement and Career Transition business based in Sydney, Australia. As four partners, we were looking for a name that did not include our own names, and one that did not openly disclose what we do. We are often required at our client premises at the time of a senior executive termination, so we do not want to announce ourselves too loudly. We were looking for a name with some “gravitas”. We’re on the corner of Hunter and Bligh Streets in the Sydney CBD, and before too long we were tossing around (over a few wines) Hunter Bligh, which became HunterBligh, and that was five years ago. Our clients love the tone of the name, it doesn’t matter if the partnership changes, and we have enough history now that it doesn’t matter of we move! We’ll take the name with us wherever we go. It’s as simple as that.
Thanks to Nigel Leadbitter, HunterBligh
A nod to Dr. Seuss
3Fish came to life one evening mid 2008 after a glass or two of red wine. After reading our kids favorite book, “Hop on Pop”, a Dr. Suess classic, the pressure was on to name our newly formed company. For those who have loved and love Dr. Seuss they will know him as quite the philosopher, however there is one page which never fails to achieve the most pristinely beautiful, unashamedly guttural belly laugh from our kids; “3fish in a tree, how can that be?!” It’s the absurdity of it, the impossibility of it, and the audacity of it. Our business is a very personal reflection of us and our journey to now. We now have 3 small children, and by honoring our children as a big part of our inspiration we felt we could reflect want to do something very positive for the generations yet to come. We also felt that fish have such lovely symbolism with new life, creation, transformation, renewal, and empowerment (“ Give a man a fish”…), which sits well with our commitment to ethical and sustainable production.
Thanks to Natalie Dillon, 3Fish
From my gorgeous nanna ‘Pinky’
The name of my online organic beauty and wellness boutique – Peachy Clean – comes from my gorgeous nanna ‘Pinky’. We called her Pinky because she only ever wore pink – from head to toe! And no dusty or pastel pinks either, full on magenta! Just looking at her would put a huge grin on your face! She always said ‘I’ve found what I like and what suits me and I’m sticking to it!’. Being her grand-daughter I’m a ‘lighter shade of her’ and get called Peachy! She was the quintessential pin-up in her younger days too – back when people used to say ‘Peachy Keen’ – so I simply tweaked the name to ‘Peachy Clean’ to embody the beauty of my hot-pink nanna and a time when everything was sweet and honest! Peachy Clean is a pure, fun company with no greenwashing and no false advertising – what you see is what you get – just like my beautiful walking-ball-of-joy nanna Pinky.
Thanks to Haley Thompson, Peachy Clean
Funny mixed with classy
When I began to brainstorm potential names for my business I really thought about my target market, who I was talking to and what would be appealing and interesting to them but also I wanted to come up with something that was a little quirky, memorable and that told a story. I began to think about my inspirations as well as what I wanted my brand to represent and be known for… From a very young age I have always had a fascination with the iconic, beautiful and just stunning Audrey Hepburn – I am a big fan of her films especially ‘My Fair Lady’, your typical rags to riches storyline and ‘Breakfast At Tiffany’s” , the original Pretty Woman Fairy Tale. Everything that you think and feel when you mention the name Audrey Hepburn is what I wanted people to think and feel when they thought of my company and what it stands for as well as in in delivery : Classic, Elegant, Beautiful, Timeless, Effortless, Stylish, Iconic. All of these things are represented by the “AUDREY” . The ANGUS part of my business name took a little longer to get to. While I loved everything that AUDREY represented, my style aesthetic and company philosophy also had another side. I also wanted to integrate a playfulness, the quirky, fun and a little bit left of centre and unpredictable side. I didn’t want to be pigeon holed in just being the “Pretty, Classic & Elegant”. Then one afternoon I had a light bulb moment when ANGUS popped into my head. ANGUS was my first puppy, a Scottish Skye Terrier who had more personality than he knew what to do with it, he was playful and funny to look at and really represented all of those things that I wanted to incorporate into my brand… Fun, Playful, Unique, Unpredictable, quirky. Both AUDREY & ANGUS and what they represent contrast and compliment each other, and together sum up perfectly the philosophy of Audrey & Angus Weddings and Events.
Thanks to Lauren Harrison, AUDREY & ANGUS Weddings and Events
Working from dawn until dusk
I came up with my business name, Dawn til Dusk Publicity, four years ago when I was on a road trip. Part of the road trip was to see one of our soon to be clients, Ricki-Lee Coulter, perform at Dreamworld on the Gold Coast for NYE. The hustle and bustle of the anytime-anywhere aspect really played on my mind and I knew our name had to revolve around the hours we put in as publicists. Waking up for breakfast television and radio shows straight through to launch events in the evenings we really are awake at the crack of dawn. The expression dusk til dawn came to mind but that suggests we are owls and had the times round the wrong way for business. So, I played on that and came up with Dawn til Dusk. The name is also very true to the industry of publicity which is known for its long, busy hours. Once I had found a possibility for our name I began to explore the colours f or our logo. Yellow and black were favourites of mine and thought it was only fitting that yellow be the main colour because of its metaphorical connection with the word dusk. It reminds me of a lit candle. Thus, Dawn til Dusk Publicity was born. My advice for budding entrepreneurs and small business owners would be pick colours and key words that say something to you and provide a visual into your values and aspirations – what they really mean to you.
Thanks to Sarah Findlay, Dawn til Dusk PR
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The essence of what I do
Going back into business was a defining moment for me and the result of some tough years of re-invention. So the name had to capture the essence of my value offering, excite and challenge me, and intrigue prospective clients. I wrangled with words and phrases for weeks. At the time I had not even crystallized my niche so it was tough! I then turned to two of my children who had grown up observing me in action for the 16 years of my previous direct selling business and had worked for me for periods in administration. They grew up in a family that revered deep thinking and insight and where I featured games of lateral thinking into most of the Youth and business evenings we hosted at home. I didn’t realize till years later how far this developed them! The choice of names narrowed till one of my daughters and I agreed ‘Lateral Insights’ fit right. It captured the essence of my differentiation in addressing perplexing business needs. I passionately believe in the unique brilliance of every person so I was always repelled by ‘normal’ and ‘average’. These concepts only bred excuses and mediocrity – the greatest thief I knew. So ‘Lateral Insights’ it was. The name felt right! It still took many months to crystallize my market niche, but the name kept speaking to me. These days I am able to talk about “unlocking potential and releasing peak performance”, with a tagline for businesses and individuals – “Discovering and being your Ultimate”.
Thanks to Liz Blake, Lateral Insights
Visualizing the end result
As a Professional Dog Trainer and the inventor of an evolutionary new training and walking system, I wanted a name that truly captured the essence of my product and training philosophy. When choosing the name I started to visualize the end result of using my product and the problem it was solving. I had 5 other names I was playing with and then Walk In Sync(tm) popped into my mind and it just felt completely in sync with my goals to assist pet parents to walk in sync with their dogs in just minutes.
Thanks to Alecia Evans, Walk In Sync
Giving birth to an idea
When I decided to start my marketing company, I needed a name. I’m a huge Audrey Hepburn fan, so one day, while watching the film “Funny Face,” I noticed the bookstore where Audrey’s character worked: Embryo Concepts. I liked the idea of giving birth to an idea, but Embryo Marketing was not quite what I was looking for. After a bit more brainstorming…voila! Egg Marketing & Communications was hatched. To me, it signifies that we create something new, like ideas for marketing strategy for our clients. It’s fresh and fun. And yes, I sometimes get calls asking “do you market eggs?” I always say, “We don’t currently, but would be happy to take them on as a client!”
Thanks to Susan Payton, Egg Marketing & Communications
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