Choosing a business name is a priority

You can’t leave this until the last moment. You may be tempted to wait until the business is nearing completion, and hope that inspiration strikes, but that is the wrong way to approach the issue. Long before opening day, you will be dealing with some, or maybe all, of the following :

Suppliers

The bank

Health department

Inland revenue

Shop fitting companies

Electricians

Plumbers

Builders

A firm of solicitors

Your accountant

Surveyor

Landlord

You will be presented with bills, contracts and official documentation, all of which will need your business name on them. When you sign a lease agreement for your premises your trading name is included on the documentation. It makes life easier for everyone if you sort out the business name early on in the project. Realistically, deciding on a name has to be high up on your list of ‘Things to Do’.

As long as you adhere to a few basic guidelines, you can choose any name you want. Simply use common sense and you won’t go far wrong.

• Choose a name that is easy to say, preferably only a few words long. If your name is a mouthful then answering the phone becomes a real pain.

• Generally avoid humour in the name, it may be funny for a while, but can soon get boring, and then you are stuck with it. I will admit that there is a fish shop in Wales with the name `A Fish Called Rhonda` which does tickle me, but examples like this are quite rare, and even this could become tedious after a while.

• Naturally avoid any name that is likely to cause offence. For one thing you might be breaking the law, as well as alienating customers.

• Don’t choose a name that limits you, you may think ‘A Taste of Italy ‘ sounds impressive, but what if you change your menu to include substantially more American lines, or worse still, stop selling Italian style sandwiches altogether ?

• If you decide to modify a competitors name, on the basis that you cannot think of a decent name yourself, then do not leave yourself open to court action. At least change the name enough that you cannot be accused of copyright theft. The big boys take their brands seriously and they will pursue you.

We had a fast food outlet start up in our town with the name ‘Kentucky Style Chicken’ using exactly the same colour scheme as a large well known chain. They even had the image of a bearded gentleman for a logo. Within three weeks of opening, their entire store had been repainted and looked completely different. I have no idea as to the actual legalities of the matter, but I am sure they were pressured into a change of image.

If you do decide to borrow and modify an existing name or image, and plenty of establishments do, then be subtle about it.