Never underestimate the power of names and when creating one for a startup, put real efforts for something unique. Besides the typical trademark checks, make sure the name is SEO-friendly because we’re in the digital era where the internet is the fulcrum of market systems. You need a brand to create a differentiation, and the #1 brand element is your  business name. 

That brand needs to be unique, punchy and easy to remember. If you call 6 friends on the phone and give them the name, and call back again in two hours, and none can remember the name,  do not use the name. Why? If they cannot remember the name easily, they cannot tell future customers about you. And if they cannot remember, that app download will not happen since people cannot locate your app in the store.

Also, you must make sure the names are easy for anyone to spell. Do not make it another degree exam where people cannot just spell your name. If they cannot easily spell the name, you are losing market leads and opportunities. I like the names I give our brands: zenvus, milonics and tekedia. 

Read this piece for more perspective: “Get a punchy tagline that can excite and thrill your customers at the same time. You can add a little twist to it, or some kind of pun that makes it all the more interesting. Get very creative with it and tie it to your logo and all your branding campaigns.”

And the most important thing: the best names must mean nothing, untethered to any sector, to give you space to expand your business playbook. You should also bias for names with available .com for domain registration. 

Comment on LinkedIn Feed

Comment: Lol, totally agree – not sure If I properly pronounce Thyssenkrupp (the German conglomerate) right, but the name probably means something relatable in German, they’ve obviously been able to get away with it for more than 20 years and they’re definitely not a startup.

I wonder what would happen to an African Startup that named itself in a similar way? – Lol, if not for Google smart suggestions on Search, they’d probably be ‘un-locatable’ on Google Search.

My Response: Good point but note that if the business is not consumer-based, you can get away with anything. Thyssenkrupp makes steel and its name may not really matter because it may have only 5-8 customers in a state. It can afford to reach those with brochures, etc. Naming is extremely important for consumer facing brands unlike some enterprise B2B firms in some sectors.

Choosing a business name and tagline

On behalf of our Faculty, Staff and Learners, I want to specifically welcome dozens of young people who are going to participate in the next Tekedia Mini-MBA through Late Most Supreme Apostle Matthew Omodayo Owotuga Foundation, in honor of Late Most Supreme Apostle Omodayo Owotuga, who passed to glory about a decade ago.

The Foundation endowed a generous scholarship in our Institute last year. The Foundation trustees noted that the act of generosity and benevolence was born out of commemorating and promoting the legacy of Late Most Supreme Apostle Omodayo Owotuga.

I welcome all of you from universities, vocational schools, professional organizations, companies, etc where the generosity of this Foundation has supported you, to Tekedia Institute. I am confident that after you have spent 12 weeks with us, the pace to personal, professional and community advancements will accelerate.

The 2022 scholars, welcome to the #BestSchool. Welcome to Tekedia Institute.

The “Bill Gates of Africa” and Africa’s tech pioneer has a message: Tekedia Mini-MBA has transformed his team. Yes, one of Africa’s greatest – Herman Chinery-Hesse – who at the early stage of the web economy came home to begin the digitization of our economy. He has great words via video on Tekedia Mini-MBA: “wonderful”, “fantastic”, “affordable”.

We’re waiting for you in class; begin here . You can also check Tekedia Startup Masterclass: from start-up to unicorn here . This is Africa’s cambrian moment of entrepreneurial capitalism; Tekedia Institute is serving as the knowledge high priest on the altar of that opportunity temple.

#ExperienceTransformation at the #BestSchool

If you have a business idea, the next thing you are considering is a brand name for your product, idea, or company. Some business names we see come across as funny, some don’t even convey the brand concept, and some others appear disjointed.

Marketing and brand communication experts will tell you that a unique brand name and tagline play a critical role in any campaign. The right name and tagline can be memorable and easy for the consumers to recall and this word.

Keep it short, simple and memorable

For a business name, 1-3 words would do just fine. I find it very clumsy when a business name is beginning to seem like a sentence trying to convey what the business does. If your business name is doing all that, what would you be doing with the tagline?

Your business name should be punchy like you want to knock the breath out of your audience. People should hear your name and be interested in what you are offering. It should be easy to remember, read and pronounce. It could be a shortened form of a name or place, just like Cisco is gotten from Francisco. It could be an acronym too like AOL. It should connect with your brand and pique one’s curiosity. Avoid generic, bland, and overused names. There are tools available online to help the search for a business name. Check them out. Don’t be afraid to tweak and modify until you find what fits.

Check for availability of the business name and domain name

You don’t want to start using a business name only to find out that it is being used by another small business. You also need to confirm that another brand is not using the domain name because you will need a website as you progress with your business idea. Also, check on social media for similar names.

Once you have established the availability, secure the names. Ensure to confirm also that you are not breaching any law or existing trademarks. You can do a name search, or better still get legal aid to help you figure out all that so that you are on the safe end of the law.

Register your .com website

When it comes to easy recall of websites, a significant number of consumers are more familiar with .com than other kinds of extensions like .net, .tv, .org, .design, etc. Get the .com website and see if you can also get the other extensions to redirect to your page. For instance, your website may be xyz.com but you can also get xyz.net and xyz.org to redirect to your page. It is not necessary, but you can do it as well.

Consider registering a trademark

You might want to consider going an extra step to protect your brand name with a trademark to give you legal protection if any other company attempts to use your name in their products or materials. Also, if you have multiple products under your brand or multiple brands under your company, this may be expedient especially in the FMCG manufacturing sector.

Extra tip

Get a punchy tagline that can excite and thrill your customers at the same time. You can add a little twist to it, or some kind of pun that makes it all the more interesting. Get very creative with it and tie it to your logo and all your branding campaigns.

Good People, join me to thank Olayinka Elegbede who just made a generous donation to  Tekedia Institute Mini-MBA General Scholarship Fund. Through his generosity, more young people will experience our world-class business education. Thank you Mr. Elegbede for funding the future!

Non-profit YouthUp Global which helps us to independently select recipients will select healthcare workers in the rural parts of Africa for this. If you are one, please connect with them.

To learn more about Tekedia Institute, click here school.tekedia.com