Then again, I've always been the impatient type (I like to think it's what makes me a good entrepreneur, although my friends would probably point out that it's also why I'm still single). So although my new business idea hasn't actually progressed very far beyond the conceptual stage - and possibly never will, if my first conversation with a potential customer proves typical - I've been spending a lot of time this week thinking about what I might call it.
I've always thought that having a good name was incredibly important to a new business. Of course you'd like to think that names are irrelevant, that it's the quality of the product or service that counts. But sadly, I don't really think this is true. For a new business, it's all about first impressions. If the name is rubbish, people don't take you seriously, and that's probably the biggest struggle when you're starting up. Conversely, if you come up with something good, people are a lot more likely to remember it (and ultimately, spend money on it).
In recent years, the internet has made naming a company incredibly difficult. There's almost no point picking a name (especially in the media industry) if you can't get hold of the domain name - and it increasingly seems to me that people have hoovered up every sensible web address in the known universe.
One approach some entrepreneurs take is to pick some ridiculous name that bears no relation to their business – the theory being that as long as it's memorable, it doesn't actually matter what it is. Personally, I don't really buy this. I'm not quite as extreme as my father, who's so convinced that Moonpig.com is going to go out of business because of its stupid name that he's bet me a fiver on it (perhaps it's a generational thing). But I still think that a company name ought to say something about what it does or what it wants to be.
On the other hand, I'd never name a company after myself, even if that tends to solve both problems. I suppose if you basically are the business, then it's fair enough (like my favourite one recently, the banking analyst Meredith Whitney, whose site is basically an online shrine to her wonderfulness). And I remember reading a piece once (I think by a restaurateur) about how much more invested you are in the business when your name's on the door. But to me, it's always seemed like an odd message to give your staff – you’re basically saying that this will always be your business, not their business.
Besides, there are some advantages to naming a company in the internet age. I recently discovered the delights of the utterly brilliant Namethis.com, where people actually help you name your business. It’s like a multi-continental brainstorming session, but without the language barriers and enormous carbon footprint. Now I'm no great believer in the wisdom of crowds - I much prefer one-woman dictatorships to democracies - but it's fantastic to be able to tap so many great new ideas without leaving your desk.
When we were thinking about names for our current business, I remember we sat around in a pub for an entire Sunday afternoon trying desperately to think of something (the names got a lot worse as the day wore on, as you can imagine). Now I can just go online, and a community of complete strangers will help me come up with something brilliant. OK, so I'll probably discover at this point that someone else has already nabbed the domain name. But it’s a lot more fun this way.
secretdiary@managementtoday.com
