Coming up with a short and memorable business name is undoubtedly one of the hardest things an entrepreneur or market needs to do. Choosing the perfect name for your business will help customers identify your company and tell the potential clients and customers about the products and services. The name will also differentiate your brand from the competitors.
But changing your business name just because you want to will never prove beneficial for your brand. One of the most common reasons business names are so important is because customers and clients build strong connections with them. But there are times when you need to consider changing the name of your business.
For example, one of the most common reasons many business owners consider changing their business name is that they want to make the investment in rebranding their entire company. When your brand identity isn’t effective in the current business landscape, changing the name might be the only solution to capture the attention of potential customers. Here are some reasons to change your business name.
You Are Facing Problems with the Trademarks
When you started your business a couple of years ago, you might have never thought that you needed to protect your brand’s reputation with an effective trademark. This is a common reason why many business owners change their company names. Perhaps you thought that your business name was unique and catchy that you didn’t need to focus on the copyrighting issue. On the other hand, you might have chosen a generic business name that was extremely hard to trademark in the first place.
Unfortunately, if you don’t trademark your business name over time, another company might start using your business name and steal your business identity. You’ll have no other option but to engage in a legal fight that will affect your resources and the growth of your business. In such situations, you can protect your business from damages by changing the business name. Consider hosting a business naming contest so that you can receive different ideas. Make sure you choose a business name that can be trademarked without any issues.
The Name is No Longer Capable of Reflecting Your Brand
Even though legal issues are one of the most common reasons that force business owners to change their company names, you might also consider renaming your company if the existing name can no longer reflect your brand properly. As per HBR, remember that your company will go through various growth stages. Some names are super versatile, and they can go through different changes. However, if you have chosen a region-specific or product-specific name, it will prevent your business from growing, and you will have no other option but to change your company name.
If your business has started offering new products or services or merged with another company to venture new business industry, then the chosen name might not prove effective as it used to be. Consider choosing a new and relevant business name that will reflect your brand identity.
The Name Is Backdated
Your business name can become backdated after a couple of years, especially if you’ve chosen a trendy name in the first place. Many business owners choose trending styles for their business name rather than considering their business identity. For instance, many startups choose names for their company that is slightly misspelled, as this is the current trend.
Business owners forget that trends don’t last forever. One trend that looks super attractive in the present day might look vague in the future. Even though choosing trending business names has proved beneficial for some businesses, it won’t work for everyone. Trending names might look unappealing after a few years. Your customers might lose faith in your company if they associate your business name with a backdated and old strategy. If you think that the name is hurting the revenue and growth of your company, it’s time to consider choosing a new one.
The Name Is Too Generic
Coming up with a memorable and creative business name is a time-consuming task. When you’re eager to launch your business as fast as possible, you might not have a sufficient amount of time to brainstorm different types of business name ideas. Unfortunately, this means that you might end up choosing names for your business that are too generic.
Using generic business names might seem relevant and effective for your company at first. However, you will reach a stage when the business name fails to showcase anything for your company. Generic names aren’t effective at creating emotional connections with the customers, which will affect the customer retention strategy of your business.
On the other hand, if you rename your company from generic to something more accurate as well as meaningful, you will be able to make your brand stand apart from the competitors.
The Name is Confusing and Difficult
This is another common situation when you need to change your business name. If you want your business name to succeed and capture potential customers’ attention, you need to make sure the name is easy to spell and understand. If the business name you’ve chosen is difficult to understand and confusing, potential clients and customers might avoid engaging with your company. Not to mention, a business name that is hard to read and understand won’t be remembered by the customers either.
If you don’t want to change your business name and focus on the entire rebranding of your company, make sure you ask yourself the following questions when coming up with a business name in the first place:
- How easily can you pronounce or read the business name?
- How much time does it take, on average, to read the business name?
- Can the customers spell and read the business name easily when searching for your brand online?
- Does your business name contain anything confusing?
Make sure you ask your partners or stakeholders to pronounce your business name loudly so that you can know if there is anything that will make the process more difficult.
Conclusion
These are the reasons why you should rebrand your business by changing the name. Do you have any other questions? Make sure you let us know by commenting below.
