If you’re reading LMM articles, you either have an online business or want to build an online business (if not, I have no idea wtf you are doing here since I literally consider perpetual wage slaves to be subhuman at some level).
One thing a lot of people waste a TON of time on is picking a name and logo. They want the name and logo to be perfect.
First of all, the logo doesn’t actually mean anything when you’re starting out. Go with any cheap or free AI generator and once you cross a few thousand bucks a month in revenue, hire a designer to give you a premium one.
Regarding the name, here is the main non-obvious thing to keep in mind:
Pick a name you can use for multiple businesses (or at least gives you room to expand your niche).
Go with a conglomerate type name unless you’re 100% sure you’re only going to operate in one LoB (line of business).
Let’s say you are starting an e-com company that sells nutritional supplements.
If you are 100% sure that this will be successful and you do not need to pivot, you can go ahead and incorporate a company named something like Green Supplements Ltd. (or LLC or whatever goes in your country).
On the other hand, if you’re just trying the idea out and you’re not sure if it will succeed, you should use a name that does not have a LoB stamped on it. Names like Google, Verizon, Accenture, etc. that can be attached to any line of business.
It would be weird for a Green Supplements Ltd. to stop its supplements business and sell clothes instead, but not for a company named Turlacime Ltd. to do it, since Turlacime Ltd. doesn’t have an LoB attached to the name while Green Supplements Ltd. does.
Going with a name you can use for multiple businesses saves you a lot of hassle if you decide to try a new idea because you can simply re-use the same company for it.
Otherwise, you have to waste a lot of time and money renaming your company, renaming your bank accounts, updating everything with payment processors, etc.
Back when I used to run my consulting firm hands on, I would see this type of thing all the time. People would want to name their new company with the name of their brand and would then have to rename it when they decided to expand or pivot.
Don’t pigeonhole yourself too much.
If you build a children’s clothing line called Cute Girl Clothing Ltd. but then expanded into boys’ clothing or children’s toys – you will at some point want to rename the company.
Pick a name that gives you room to expand and grow. Something like My Little Angels Ltd. is superior to Cute Girl Clothing Ltd.
Remember, you can have different brand names under your company. Keep the incorporation name usable for multiple businesses and develop sub-brands under it (you don’t need to incorporate the sub-brands).
Make sure the domain is available.
For whatever name you choose to pick, make sure the domain name is available and make damn sure you register it. I recommend Namecheap for this.
You should ALWAYS own your firstnamelastname.com because it lets you control your own reputation.
If you don’t do this, someone else can end up controlling your reputation.
Like scammer Samy Dindane, whose domain samydindane.com is owned by me, and I get to ruin his reputation by telling everyone about his history of being a scammer.
His children (if he manages to have them) will eventually type his name out of curiosity and find his history of running affiliate scams – bringing eternal shame to himself and his family.
The one easy thing you can do for yourself is to go to Namecheap and spend $10 to purchase your name so other people don’t get to cause unlimited damage to your reputation.
Keep the name EASY.
Any name you pick should meet three criteria:
- Easy to spell
- Easy to remember
- Easy to pronounce
There are many brands which fail to do this and this hurts their growth rate.
Easy to spell: If your name is hard to spell, people will not be able to find it on the internet. For example, Balenciaga. You see them at the mall and buy something.
Then you lose them and want to buy it again online. Guess how many people can spell the brand name? Not a whole lot.
For a new brand, this will basically mean that they will be unable to find you and you will lose the sale.
Another blunder of this rule is by my friend Jay who created Zylvie. This name is impossible to spell. Zilvie? Zilvye? Zylvie? It has too many ways to get it wrong. His competitors like Gumroad and LemonSqueezy albeit being more expensive and less feature rich in some ways, are easier to pronounce and remember.
Easy to remember: If I tell you about a brand I liked as a customer, how easy is it for you to remember it? Some names are easier to remember than others.
LifeMathMoney is an easier name to remember than something like TheQuintessentialSprezzatura. The easier you are to remember, the more likely you are to be remembered when someone wants to check you out.
Easy to pronounce: Pick a name that isn’t too hard to speak out loud. If it’s hard to say, it’s hard to spread.
For example, Google is much easier to pronounce than Perplexity. It’s very easy to say Google it, but very hard to say Perplexity it. It simply doesn’t roll off the tongue.
Don’t overthink.
Other than all of what I told you, don’t break your head over finding the “perfect” name. There is no perfect name.
It is very unlikely that you will fail your business because you didn’t pick the right name, and at the same very unlikely that you will succeed because you picked the right name. It simply does not matter that much.
If you read the full article, you will realize the main thing about the name is that it shouldn’t get in the way.
If you want to reuse the company to do something else, the name shouldn’t be a blocker for it.
The name shouldn’t be so complex that it blocks the spread of the brand (e.g. being hard to spell, remember, or pronounce).
The name shouldn’t put you at the mercy of someone else who can decide your reputation (i.e. own your fucking domain).
If you save the $10 by not getting it (use Namecheap) I can pretty much guarantee that at some point a competitor or a pissed off customer will purchase it and hurt your brand. It happens all the time.
Pick something that meets these basic things and go and do the important thing – SELLING.
Remember, getting customers is a hundred thousand times more important than finding the perfect name. So get on it.
– Harsh Strongman
