Biz Talk: What's in a Name?

“I’ll take ‘Business and Industry’ for 600, Alex.”

Clue: “This Seattle-based coffee chain was named for the first mate in Moby Dick.”

“What is ‘Starbucks?'”

Business names are chosen for varying reasons—from the most logical to the most absurd. Either way, your business's name should serve its primary purpose—branding.

You may not be ready with a logo yet, but your business should have a name that will get your target customer’s attention and lock it.     

Starting a business is like giving birth to a baby, your baby. And just like any person, a business needs an identity.

The most basic identifier is the name. Without it, an entity—a person, place or thing—cannot be referred to.

But a business name is more than just an identification. It is your brand, your image, your statement. It should connect you with your target customers and appeal to their emotions or senses to motivate them to buy.  

Once you've made that connection and established that relationship, the name should also create a sense of pride and loyalty to your brand.

Some clothing companies take advantage of this loyalty factor by putting their brand names on t-shirts they sell. Their customers proudly wear these t-shirts, making them walking advertisements for those companies’ products.  

Hershey’s Kisses even reinforces their brand image with the shape of their chocolate.

We chose to name our bakery cafe* business "CoffeeShop Treats" for familiarity and quick recall purposes. When we told some of our potential customers what our store’s name was, they would say, “Oh, I’ve heard about that” even though we had been open for just a couple months.

With CoffeeShop Treats, we figured it would be easy for our target customers to identify that we were selling coffee and desserts. It should have also conveyed that we were targeting coffee shop-goers as our primary customers.

We reinforced our brand with the slogan, “Because you deserve it!,” to appeal to our customers’ emotional attachment to desserts. We were trying to urge them, “You’ve got to have it now!”

Sweet Dee Cakes and Candies opened in Pelton Plaza last December. When asked what a ‘sweet dee’ is, co-owner Larry Liu told me that it means ‘sweeter’ in Chinese.  

“We chose that name also because it sounds like ‘sweetie’ when you say it faster,” Liu said.

In case you’re wondering what "zocalo" means, according to Zocalo Coffeehouse's website it is “a Mexican-Spanish word meaning ‘town square’ or ‘town center.’  It was chosen to reflect the goal of community building, focusing not only on the product, but on the place itself.

"It's not just about coffee or tea, its about the community.”  

True enough, Zocalo Coffeehouse looks like a town meeting place for San Leandro residents and visitors.

While building your business, you should definitely be aiming for the best image that can leave a lasting impression. Your business name is your stamp of quality.

Choose the one you can be most proud of.

*CoffeeShop Treats, LLC was sold in 2007.