Just a short post today – but really, really important.
Win at the Name Game
Giving your dog walking business the right business name can be key to your long term success – so it is important to take a bit of time over naming your business. Sometimes a name will spring straight into your mind for your business, but even if this does happen, don’t just go with it, test the name out on some friends and family to get a broader opinion.
More often, it can be difficult to think of a name, especially when you know that once you have chosen it, you are generally stuck with it – whether it is good or bad.
Keep it Simple
As a general rule you need to keep your business name simple, but also say what your business does, if you can – and if you have no plans to expand your dog walking business outside of your local area – include your town name.
Also your business name has to work well as a domain name – your domain name will be your website address such as www.newtowndogwalking.com – so try and keep it relatively short.
(Note: You need to decide on your business name before setting up your business website)
How to Come up with a Great Name
I have found the easiest way to come up with a name is to take a piece of paper and just start scribbling as many ideas down as possible without thinking about any of them too much, then get your family to do the same. Once you have a long list of potential names you can start going through them to see which match your criteria and which you like. Then pick your top five names and check that the domain names are available. It is important to check if the domain name is available early in this process, you do not want to set your heart on a name only to later find that someone already has that domain name and a nice website attached to it.
How to check if your domain name is available
To check if your domain is available is quite easy, go into Google and type in ‘domain name’ in the search box. A list of domain name sellers will come up, click on any of them and use the domain search tool to check if your domain name is available – I’ve used ‘GoDaddy’ in the past but you can use any – they all work in a similar fashion. If your name is available you are good to go – If your name is unavailable, then try your other favourites until you find one that is available.
Once you have decided on your name, make a note of both it and the domain name – as when you set up a your business website you’ll will need to use that domain name to set it up.
What quirky and interesting name have you come up with for your dog walking business?