The hard path to the company name
Marta Rybczynska
Showing embedded developers the way to secure products, step by step | From rural France | Follow for latest Embedded Open Source News
When started announcing that I'm going to create a company to family and friends, I got a number of questions. Some of them I expected, and some I did not. The most popular question was about the activities. The second one... what is the name going to be?
I didn't think the name is that important. I preferred learning about the problems of future clients, and finishing the required paperwork. I had a list of possible name ideas. I checked them for negative meanings in different languages... but without a decision.
That lasted until I had the complete paperwork ready, waiting for one single thing - the name. It was Friday, and I had to have the name on Monday to continue. Just before a friend told me that she needed three months to come with the final one.
That was a weekend of brainstorming and I do have a number of lessons learnt in the process
Check the domain availability immediately
All the potential names from my first list turned out unusable, because .com domains were already taken. Most of them were on sale, with prices around a thousand euros. I didn't want to pay that just at the beginning, so had to come with another name.
The choice is easier if you prefer a local domain like .fr, or a topic-oriented one like .software. I wanted a .com one, so the choice got more limited.
Get inspiration
There are many generators of company names online. I used some of them for inspiration, ideas, words and the way of creating a name. They didn't work for me for the exact name, because they point mostly into already-reserved domains. I also checked companies with similar activities, companies in the same area.
Check search engine results
When I had the last set of ideas, I checked out results they get with search engines. What I prefer is to have no search results, what means the name isn't a product name of someone else, or a family name.
Do not stop at the first name idea
I was quite happy with the first name that came out of the previous steps. Then I shared it with my family and had a hard time explaining what is the link between the name and the activity. That wouldn't work... back to step 1.
Get the domains
After I decided on the name, I gave myself one day for thinking. The next day in the morning I reserved the domain name. We don't want someone to get it before us, right?
This has been a month I do have the name, and I'm still satisfied with it. Here it is, a short one after a long process: https://www.syslinbit.com
If you're wondering what it means, visit the 'Our Story' page for hints.
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3 年Congratulations Marta Rybczynska. good points you shared.
International Affairs| Project Leader | Grenoble | Jeunes actifs | Talents | Chercheurs internationaux
3 年It is an incredible path that you are starting. I wish you all good for you and your new activity. As for int.mobility I went through all the steps you described. Last month, I got approval from Inpi for brand deposit as advised by my coach. www.inpi.fr. Just sharing that info. ??
End-to-end Supply-Chain Transformation Expert with a 6 Sigma Black Belt and a Passion for Continuous Improvement.
3 年Congrats Marta ! ?? And good thing that you checked first, if your chosen name did not have a "negative" meaning in different languages. Clearly #Audi did not do that for their new "e-tron" car... ?? ??
Consultante & Formatrice | Transition de carrière et mobilité | Leadership des femmes | Mentorat
3 年I went through the same steps Marta, and finally decided to get a domain with my name and surname. After a few years, I decided to create my brand identity and found the present name " Mon business en mieux". It was the result of a work on my target-customers profile and a brainstorm with a friend while having a drink for apéro ??
Head of Marketing: Post-Experience Business Programs | Doctoral Student Higher Ed Leadership and Management
3 年Thanks for sharing your story. Coming up with a company name that feels right and is available, is incredibly hard! Looking forward to learning more about your startup! Very exciting!