When you start up a business there are many things to think about and do, but not everyone thinks about creating a brand, especially if their business is a small one. But you have to think about what part their brand played – and continues to play – in the success of those large businesses. If they hadn’t bother with a brand, would you even know who they are and what they sell today?

That’s exactly what a brand does; make the business easy for the general public to remember and recognise. Then when they want what that company sells, they are more likely to become customers there than at any other business. So if you need a brand, here are some tips on how to create one.

• Use the name of your company. Don’t try and create brands for products; that will only confuse people and cost more money. And it will diffuse the effect of the brand. Focus on just one brand overall, it will be much more effective.
• If you don’t use your company name, you will need to use a registration engine to find out whether the domain name you want is available. It is wise to snag all the versions – .com, .org etc – so no one else can have them and piggy back on your success.
• Keep the name short and simple so that people remember it and so it is easy to spell and pronounce. Word of mouth is a great way to advertise, but if people can’t remember the name they won’t be able to tell their friends.
• There are 3 paths to choosing a name that is likely to work for your business. Many have found that a whimsical choice is great because it is usually short and sparks people’s imagination – plus making up a name can be fun. Others go the traditional route, choosing a name that describes what they do. The third option is to choose a name that is evocative in some way – perhaps of an era, if that is appropriate to your business.
• Don’t let a committee choose the name. This is more likely to be a bland, cover-everything kind of name that will do nothing for your brand. Brainstorm with one or two professionals who know your business and know about branding.
• Be consistent. Don’t keep changing the way you describe your business as this will cause confusion. Your business may well be described by several quite different phrases; choose the one that is most appropriate and stick with that.
• Once you have it, trademark it. That said, you also need to make sure your name and design – or one that looks similar – is not already in use by someone else.