Choosing a Business Name

I was involved in a project to choose a name for a business recently. I helped Alice DiPirro of the PR Store in Pasadena, California, consult with a client. The client, a Registered Nurse, was wanting to open a home health practice that provided different levels of care, including mental health services.

As with so many small business marketing projects, the budget was small so I needed to work efficiently.

Here's how I went about selecting a name for the business:

• Interview - Assessment


I asked a number of questions related to their goals, the type of services they planned to provide, I assessed their personalities, and their primary target client.

They also provided examples of similar businesses and there were a few names they did like and others they did not.


• My Research


I kept it simple - a look through the phone book. Many names were clinicial sounding. A look on the Internet. I didn't think too deeply; instead, I let any thoughts of competitor names or potential business names begin to flow.


• My Structure for the Creative Process


Using an Excel spreadsheet, I listed categories across the top that would help determine the name: geography, casual and fun, holistic, warm and friendly, team, and also "available."

I also wanted to think of a name that could translate well to a web domain name.

Then down the left hand side, I began thinking up names . . . there were 15.

Then in a separate document, I wrote up the process and the words that popped into my mind such as "wellness" "whole" "team" and any synonyms that were applicable.

Then I chose the final 5 and presented to the client. They were:

1. Whole Health House Calls


2. The Wellness Team


3. Total Person Wellness


4. The Heart of Health (Group)


5. Healthy Friends

The woman who is the founder saw name number #13 on the spread sheet and she liked that one. It wasn't one of my final 5 choices. "Front Porch Home Health" which we ended up changing to "Front Porch At-Home Health."

There are many aspects to marketing that are completely subjective to the "gut" feeling of a client or creative team.

Whether in choosing a business name, or writing a web site, I always strive to make the process as objective as possible.

In this case, they were delighted with the name they selected.

By the way,

here's an article on local marketing I wrote which may be of interest to you.