Choosing the right business name is an essential decision for entrepreneurs and can have a significant impact on the success of a business. This importance is one reason why top consulting firms and naming agencies charge five or even six figures for developing business names.
It’s essential to seek out a business name that may communicate brand values, differentiate your enterprise from your competitors, generate significant value, and create a lasting impression with your customers. But what about those businesses—which, truthfully, are most of us—that may’t afford such high prices? What’s a more cost-effective approach to finding the perfect name for your enterprise?
One million dollars for a name?
I’m undecided what this “naming module” entailed, but so far as I know, no one frequently charges $1,000,000 for a brand name. However, while $75,000 sounds steep per syllable (especially in 1999 dollars!), it is well inside the range of what naming and branding agencies typically charge.
In my experience, hiring an agency to enable you to select a name for your enterprise can cost anywhere from $10,000 to $100,000, depending on aspects reminiscent of the nature of your enterprise, the variety of name you need to give your enterprise, and the size and popularity of the agency.
Why would anyone pay that much?
It’s hard—probably inconceivable—to assign an exact value to the handful of letters that make up a company name. But there are at least three reasons to speculate in getting it right:
The right business name can offer you an edge. If you’ve ever been moved by an inspiring speech or studied the lyrics to your favorite song, you already understand the power of language. A name is a company’s first and best opportunity to leverage that power—to convey meaning, to evoke an emotional response, or to stay in people’s minds.
A name lasts the lifetime of a company. If all goes well, a company name will outlive its original brand logo, website, and promoting campaign—assets for which corporations are willing to pay top dollar.
Naming is hard. Getting it improper can result in anonymity, bad press, hasty rebranding, and loss of name awareness. Unlike pet naming, business naming requires legal accessibility, linguistic and cultural feasibility, internal fit, and customer acceptance. Leave it to amateurs, and you could possibly be next. Winery Or Suitable for poaching.
What is included in this price?
Keep in mind that any five-figure naming price should get you much greater than a list of name ideas. In addition to a whole lot of ideas developed by many experienced namers, brand consulting firms typically charge for initial trademark screening, language checks to make sure the names don’t mean anything unpleasant in the relevant language or culture, and multiple rounds of presentations to company leaders.
And those are just the tangible results. The real advantages of working with an experienced namer or consultant are intangible: experience, expertise, confidence, outside perspective, and the ability to build consensus. Ultimately, you’re paying for the process that gets you to the name, which is a lot harder—and due to this fact dearer—than 100 good name ideas.
Couldn’t I do it myself (for less money)?
If you’re bootstrapping a startup, even the lower end of the price range above probably sounds expensive, if not prohibitive. You can get monetary savings by taking a DIY approach to naming your company, but you’ll still wish to make a small investment to play it secure:
- To find something that is legally available, you will likely need a whole lot of name ideas. You can spend time generating them yourself, collaborate with team members, hire an inexpensive freelancer, or use an inexpensive crowdsourcing tool. For inspiration and advice, try naming agency web sites free naming guides or buy book on company names.
- Learn tips on how to navigate the United States Patent and Trademark Office online trademark database to see if your ideas are legally “yours.” Or, to avoid wasting time (and headaches), hire someone to do a trademark pre-screening of your strongest name candidates. Depending on how many other business names you need to search, outsourcing this step will likely cost you anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. However, pre-screening names will likely prevent money in the future by providing you with a more efficient naming process and a business name you may own.
- Don’t assume that your multilingual friends can offer you a good idea of whether your enterprise name ideas will work abroad. If you have any aspirations to do business outside your native language, contact a translation company or language checker. For a thousand or two thousand dollars, they are going to contact many native speakers in other countries and ask about meaning, associations, and pronunciation issues.
Once you’ve accomplished these steps, all it’s essential do is get everyone involved to agree on a name from your shortlist. Then, get a lawyer to enable you to with the trademark registration process, buy a domain, and get able to launch your enterprise. This is easier said than done, but if you’re lucky, you’ll have a great business name for a fraction of what a top-tier naming agency would charge. If you’re not so lucky, the experience of attempting to name your individual business could also be a higher argument for the high price than any naming agency.
Key conclusions
As we’ve said, selecting the right business name is an essential decision for entrepreneurs and can have a significant impact on the success of your enterprise. A powerful business name can communicate your brand values, differentiate you from your competitors, generate significant value, and create a lasting impression with your customers.
One approach to assess the value of a business name is to think about the cost of acquiring it through a domain name purchase, trademark registration, or any other legal fees. This can provide a tangible benchmark for the name’s value in the marketplace.
Another approach is to judge the impact of a company name on key metrics reminiscent of customer engagement, conversion rates, and brand recognition. By tracking these metrics over time, entrepreneurs can gain insight into the effectiveness of their company name and make vital adjustments.
It’s also essential to think about the legal and mental implications of selecting a business name. By conducting a thorough trademark search and registration process, entrepreneurs can protect their brand and avoid costly legal disputes in the future.
So how much is a company name value?
In general, the value of a business name is subjective and can vary based on a variety of aspects. However, by rigorously considering the industry, goal market, competition, and legal implications, entrepreneurs can select a strong and memorable name that can help differentiate their brand and ensure long-term success.