This is the identity of your business. It needs to:
◆ stand out from your competitors;
◆ reflect the personality of the business;
◆ be memorable.
Think of any connotations, both positive and negative, and also of the type of graphics that can be used with the name to get your business noticed. ‘Co-operative Funeral Directors’ is tasteful and describes the business. ‘Bodies Are Us’ certainly describes the business but can only be described as offensive.
‘Clippers’ or ‘Snips’ are safe names for hairdressers. They would suit a barber where older men are the main clients. ‘Expressions’ or ‘Images’ would appeal more to women and younger men who want something more than a short back and sides. ‘Greys’ and ‘Curl Up & Dye’ are names I have actually seen for hairdressers but somehow they just put me off! ‘Expressions Bridalwear’ implies new, exciting and individual. ‘Basket of Threads’ paints a good picture for a needlework shop.
The name needs to reflect the personality of the business. ‘Enchanted Sun’ was the name of my first shop (a New Age gift shop). It encompassed the mythical aspects of the shop and was very in keeping with the dominant themes of the day. The name was a hit.When I first opened, I kept a dish of little sticky address labels on the counter so that customers could take my details away with them (these can be stuck straight into an address book or diary and kept, unlike a business card which is easily lost). The local school children kept coming in and taking them.This was very puzzling until I found out that the coolest thing was to have my shop details on your pencil case! For ‘Cave’, my second shop (an ethnic and alternative clothes and accessories shop), I drew on images of Stone Age men and prehistoric animals for the graphics.
