Picking the right name for your new small business may not seem like a big deal, but it’s actually very important. Your business name is often the first and possibly only impression your potential customers will have of your new venture. Your business name can also create a sense of identity for your company and the people you employ and the partners you work with, so choosing a name that’s reflective of the corporate culture you want to have is important.

Choosing the right name for your business can ensure positive buzz and a good first impression, getting it wrong may doom your business to failure.

Even if you come up with a great name, you have to make sure that someone else isn’t using it. Many business names are trademarked, meaning that you can’t use them. Making sure your new business name is legally kosher is important to keeping yourself out of hot water, particularly if your business becomes successful and builds a regional or national footprint.

There’s quite a bit of debate about what a good business name entails. Many business gurus feel that the best new business names should be deliberately vague, an inkblot on which customers can see their own expectations, while others think that business names should be specific as possible. Opinion is also divided on the subject of gimmicky names or names derived from made-up words. In general, however, whatever sells in your niche or market is the name to go with.

The following are a few points to consider when choosing a business name.

Namestorming – Sit down with your partners, friends and family and start coming up with names. Don’t just pick the first one that sounds okay. Come up with an extensive list of potential names and think about them for a few days before narrowing down your list.

Propriety – Consider the audience you’re marketing to when choosing a name. Think about the services you offer, who’s likely to buy them and the image you want your business to present. A risqué or funny name may be appropriate for a restaurant or game shop, but a more professional-sounding name may be better for a medical billing business or tax help firm.

Poetry and Prose – Be sure your business name is pleasant sounding. Language is an important part of how we process information, so appealing word combinations or alliterative language may be helpful in forming a positive first impression.

Legality – Check to make sure whether your business name is trademarked, and whether businesses in your local area have the same or similar names. While it’s probably okay if there’s a Butts & Weiner’s hot dog stand in Connecticut and another one in California, having two competing businesses in the same town with the same name is likely a recipe for a lawsuit.

Consultant – If your start-up budget allows, you may want to hire a marketing consultant to help you pick a name. A start-up marketing consultant can cost you between $5,000 and $80,000, depending on your location and desired services, but the cost can pay off in fantastic results. Marketing consultants can do surveys and other research to test which names will work best in your market or business niche, and they can also advise you on a number of other marketing strategies to use as you begin your work.

Engage a Graphic Artist – At some point, you’re probably going to want to market your business through print or web ads. See which name lends itself best to logos and other graphic representations. Having a name that’s easy to represent visually makes marketing easier.

After putting your potential names through the wringer, you should come up with two or three winners. Think about them some more, test them out with friends and colleagues and on social media like Facebook to see what people like. The final call is likely to be a gut decision, but by applying a little thought and research to the matter, you can increase your chances of getting this critical early decision right.

If you want to just use the name in your state, you will need to file with your state’s Secretary of State’s office. The means though that someone could file the name of your company in another state and use it for their own company. If you want to create a trade name that no one else can use, you will have to file at the US Patent and Trademark Office.

If you plan on doing business overseas, you will have to register the name at the US office. From there, you can register for a trademark name through the Madrid Arrangement on International Registration of Trademarks. This allows you to do business overseas under one name without having to worry about another company is another country. While this will not protect you from every country in the world, it will at least protect you from the countries who do participate in the arrangement.

In this modern age domain names have almost become synonymous with trade names. The difference between these two is that domain names are not registered with the government. You can purchase a domain name for your company through various online businesses for a fee. Beware of people who site-squat, that is registering a domain name for a company and holding onto it so that they will be able to sell the registered name for a higher price. If this is your problem, you may want to investigate other domains such as .net to see if the name you want is still available. If it is not, you could consider slightly altering your company website or approaching the holder of the site so see how much they will be willing to sell the name for. If you seem too eager for the site though, the prices may rise. Always remember that there is another way for you to get your business a domain name.

While you will want your company’s name to stand apart from everyone else’s, take into account the audience that you are marketing to. If the name of your company is hard to spell or to remember, you may want to think about changing it into something easier. One pitfall to avoid here though is to avoid word play when it comes to choosing the name. While you may think it is catchy, some people will come to avoid that place either because they think that you are inexperienced or that you do not understand what needs they may have.

You will also want to investigate the meaning of the name. Certain words may mean different to people. The famous example of Coca-Cola when it went to China is a cautionary tale about how even a famous name can be translated wrong if you do not know who you are marketing to.

Many people believe that initials as a business name will be easy for people to remember. While it is true people will remember a business name easier that way, they may forget exactly what the business was for. It is better if you have in your store’s name what type of business you are. People are more likely to associate a store with the process. Famous stores such as K-Mart and Wal-Mart draw people towards them because in the name they mention what they are. They are a market (or now supermarket) so that people can remember going to shop.

Keep in mind that the name you chose for your business can be changed later yet it will be expensive and time consuming. There are many legal documents that you will have to go through in order for the name change to become effective. Not to mention you will have to change everything that has the companies name on it from the sign outside to the invoice papers. While it is true that you can change a business name as much as you like, it is generally better to pick a suitable name at first so that you will not have to go through so much hassle later.