Choosing a business name is extremely important. Whether for a child or a business, a name is how the world will forever recognize and associate you.

Last year it became apparent to me that I needed to change my business name. Office Solutions ^ME was consistently getting inquiries for office equipment, instead of virtual administrative support. So, I started on a journey to find a more suitable name. I didn’t want to lose the market recognition I had built locally, or completely redefine my brand.  I was well aware of the substantial expense I would incur with a name change and re-branding.  I wanted to do it once and do it right.

I started by polling my current clients to learn what they had to say about my services and how they would describe my business. I got some great feedback, including terms like “lifesaver” and quotes such as “you are my organized brain”.

I spoke to several people over the course of a few months about naming concepts, and got opinions from everyone I talked to. I did some key word research, domain name research, and corporate name research through the Secretary of State.

Here were some of my primary considerations in choosing a new business name:

1. Is the name legally available
2. Is the domain name available
3. Is the name (fairly) easy to spell
4. Is the name easy to remember
5. Is the domain name easy to remember
6. Does the name help define my services
7. What acronym does the name create
8. Does the name utilize key words

From here I found a few options that fit the logical requirements. The emotional requirements would follow. I had to like the new name and feel like it represented me and my business well.

Finally, a few other considerations were:

• Twitter handle availability
• Facebook page URL
• Domain name length
• Logo potential
• Tag line potential

After over 6 months of research and analysis, I finally made the switch from Office Solutions ^ME to Strategic Office Support LLC (SOS).

Here is some of the rationale that lead me to choose Strategic Office Support:

1. I retained some of the previous name and with it some recognition
2. The abbreviation – SOS – can refer to the help I provide businesses
3. Office and Support are key words
4. Strategic is a powerful adjective
5. The legal name and URL were available
6. I could easily retain my color scheme
7. There were many logo possibilities

Of course this was just the beginning of my re-branding journey. I look forward to sharing more with you in future posts.

Do you have a business naming or renaming experience to share?