- 1). Write a long list of words that have to do with the physical nature of your business. For example, if you are starting a coffee shop, think of all the words that have to do with coffee shops, such as coffee, cup, caffeine, caffeinated, bean, aroma, roasted, dark and anything else you can think of.
- 2). Write a list of words that relate to the benefits you want your customers to obtain, the characteristics you want your business to project and the audience your business is marketing to. For example, if you are starting the coffee shop, you could come up with words such as social, artsy, cultural, busy, friendly and clique.
- 3). Look up every word you have so far in a thesaurus. You can use a hard copy of a thesaurus or an online thesaurus. Looking these words up in a thesaurus will create a web of words that will add onto the words you just brainstormed. This gives you more words to choose from that you may not have thought of on your own. For example, if you look up the word social in a thesaurus, you will find words such as accepted, pleasant, community, cordial and popular. If you looked up the word cup you could find words like chalice, goblet, mug, grail, tumbler and glass.
- 4). Research mythology in books at the library or online. Search for creatures, gods or goddesses that convey an idea you want to portray in your business. Mythology incorporated in business names are often a success. Nike was thought of this way. If you are opening a coffee shop, you may want to look up gods and goddesses of friendship or hospitality. Hestia was the Greek goddess of home and Philote was the goddess of affection and friendship.
- 5). Look up the words you have listed in a language translator. Often words that clash in one language may sound beautiful and catchy in another. Again, you can use foreign language dictionaries or the internet. For example, the French word for bean is haricot. Take the several lists and take time combining several of the words. You could come up with names such as Hestia's Haricot, The Busy Bean, and Philote's Clique of Culture.
- 6). Make a top 10 list. Before choosing, type your top choice for a business name into a search engine to make sure someone else has not claimed the name for his business.
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