Picking the right name for your business is so, so incredibly important that I really can't state it enough. It's literally one of those most important things you'll ever do for your future success and I'll tell you how to find the perfect one step-by-step.
Starting off right
You need to find a name that is available to use with the state and you can get a website/social media presence with that exact same name. This is where many businesses fail--you might have all the right skills but your online presence sucks because no one can find your business.
"Sarah's Jewerly LLC" is totally fine to file with the state, but when the domain name (the thing you type into your internet browser to get your website) is already taken, you end up with nonsense like "sarahsfinejewerlyandthings.biz" because it's all that you can find. I'll tell you right now, no one is going to visit your site.
Part 1: Search for a domain
We're going to use Namecheap's domain name search tool to find a good name that isn't taken. This isn't going to be easy--most names you can think of are already taken, but I've found some serious gems by being creative and you can too.
It should look like this:
Enter all of the keywords, phrases, names, etc., you can think of that have anything to do with your company.
Below that, I suggest the following settings:
- Max Price: $50, at most. We're trying to do this cheap.
- Check: Use Domain Hacks, Pluralize Nouns (up to you)
- Uncheck Show Premiums
- On the right, click "popular" and then hit "select all"
Now click generate.
Here's an example for a made up driving school for kids looking to get their first driver's license:
The first thing that stands out at me is driving.lol. I immediately note a few things:
- Only $1.80 to register for the first year. That's hella cheap. You could also register for 2 years right now for $19.
- $26/yr after that to maintain the address. Not bad.
- "LOL" is a common term for something that's funny--I'm thinking how this could be applied to branding. Maybe a custom vinyl on the car with the slogan "Learning to drive can be fun!" with the web address. This would be a great way for people to remember the company and website address.
- It's short! Makes it easy to remember.
(Note: This address may be taken by the time you read this--it's just an example that's available as of this writing.)
Part 2: Confirm with the state
Now that we have a really good idea for a name/brand that we plan to go with, we need to make sure it's actually available as a business name with the state.
You don't have to name the company the exact same thing--but it makes it easier. In most states you can register a "DBA" ("Doing Business As") name and have marketing / checks / etc. in a different name than the actual company. This can be a bit tricky though, because you also need to make sure that name is available as well. My recommendation--just name it the same thing, if possible.
Use the following link to see if your name is already taken:
If there are a lot of similarly-named companies, I'd recommend something else. In this case, I'd probably search for:
- LOL Driving, LLC
- Driving.LOL, LLC (see note below)
- Driving, LLC
* It's ok to use your domain name in the company name! This is actually encouraged as it means anyone who sees your company name in a filing also immediately knows how to find you online. (This is more common for .com and other well-known domains, but as the more obscure ones become more common it'll be easier and easier for people to recognize your web address.)
Part 3: Confirm social media
If you plan to have a big online presence, you also need to search to see if you can get the same name on whatever social media platforms you plan to be on.
It's up to you how strict you want to be. If you can get a website, company name, Facebook, and Instagram all with the same name, but TikTok is taken... Well, it's probably still worth doing and just using a slightly different name for that platform.
Part 4: Pull the trigger or start over
At this point you have one of two situations:
- Everything is perfect! You have a name available across all or nearly all platforms that you want to be on and you're ready to move forward. Great! Do it!
- You've discovered a problem--the name is taken on a platform you really want or the website is just a little too obscure and you're not quite comfortable with it. That's OK. Start over but be more creative with the potential names, words that describe your business, etc. It takes some time but I guarantee if you put the effort in there's still some really great and memorable names out there.
Getting a memorable and easily-accessible name is huge, so it's good to take your time on this part and get everything just perfect.
Good luck! Now go make some green!