How to Create the Best Business Name Ever, Step Six

Testing Your Business Name Ideas

So you’ve come up with what you think are some of the very best names for your business but you’re not sure which one is the best or really like one business name idea but you’re not 100% sure, what should you do?

Testing your names ideas for your business may just make the difference between have a hugely successful name and having a dud.  The team hear at the Best Name Ever have hear the same scenario over and over again, a business owner has spent endless time and money just to come up with what they think is the best business name ever and once they launch their business, they get no reaction, no traction and worse, no attention to it.

What went wrong with their business name?

We always look at these names and wonder; did they ever even bother to ask anyone what they thought of the name?

We just ask ourselves that for the first second then we’re pretty sure of the answer….NO!

You’ve come so far and done so much work and maybe even spent a bunch of money why would you not just go ahead and ask others what they thought.  This may be just the most overlooked aspect of company or business naming, particularly small businesses.

Product companies spend billions of dollars each year on not just product testing but on product naming as well, entrepreneurs should at least spend some time on the matter.

Don’t be shy ask people what they think of your business name ideas!

Now that we’ve got or venting out of the way, how would one go about testing their business name ideas and who should you ask?

First of all you should ask everyone and anyone.  Now you might be wondering why ask everyone if they aren’t involved in my industry or have no idea about my business.

You never know where great ideas come from and listening to people about they view your business may just be the biggest eye opener.  Viewing your own business from the outside can be a huge resource for you and for your name choices.

People, even if they aren’t involved in your industry, may see things you never thought of before.  People may have preconceived ideas of your business you want to avoid or they may look at your name ideas and get other ideas of the names.  Perhaps some names even have negative connotations that you didn’t see or worse, can be pronounced differently then you thought and in a weird or negative way.  “From the Mouth of Babes.”

Asking everyone their thoughts is a first great resource particularly if you are going to be dealing with the public, ask your friends, ask your family, ask everyone.

One great tip about ask people about your business name ideas is don’t influence them, don’t push people because ultimately you want their honest opinion, you don’t want people to agree with you just to make you happy.

Getting a negative response to your name ideas is not bad, it’s best that you find out now if there is a problem.

If you are a business in a specific industry and not dealing with the public, then it is best to ask people in that industry.  But you want to get as well rounded opinion as possible, ask potential clients, ask others in the industry, ask producers, and ask venders, you want to get all sides of the business.

Any and all options should be welcome, it’s best to find out now if there is an issue with your name choices and you want to get all the information you can on your business name ideas because once you go with a name it is going to be incredibly difficult to change it.

One last final note on testing your business name ideas is that ultimately when it comes down to it, it is your business it is going to be your decision, go with your heart.  When Google was developing Google, you know a lot of people really didn’t like the name but it was what they went with and it was the name that got Google a lot of traction early on in the business.

Don’t forget to check out our other posts on, what to look for in the best business name, making sure your business name is available in the .com, help getting creative for your business name, where to look for business name inspiration and making sure you can use your business names.