How to buy a business name: Your step by step guide to an essential purchase

After all, it’s easy for entrepreneurs to assume that the right title will suddenly come to them in a flash of inspiration. Innovators often believe that they’ll simply stumble across the ideal name when they’re finishing off the packaging for their new product or building their website.

However, as countless companies have discovered, naming isn’t nearly as simple as it seems.

In a world where your consumers are bombarded with choice from countless companies just like yours, something as simple as a name can make or break your chances of success.

It’s your name, more than your website design, your product, or even your pricing structure, which will help customers to remember your company and fall in love with whatever it sells.

With so much pressure riding on your title, you may decide to avoid the stress of naming once and for all and simply buy a business name instead.

Purchasing a company name from a reputable brand allows you to sidestep the hassle of brainstorming and problem-solving and choose a name that’s already perfectly designed to support your brand’s success.

Here’s your guide on how to buy a business name – the easy way.

Figuring out how to buy a name for a business is simple enough.

There are plenty of websites out there that allow you to browse through available monikers by category and choose the one that’s most suitable for your organisation. However, finding a website that you can purchase a title from is only the first step. You’ll need to figure out how to find a business name that’s worth buying too.

Remember, most of the companies that sell names online today have hundreds, even thousands of options to choose from. Here at Naimeo, we try to make it easier for you to make your choice by filtering our names by sector and style. However, you’ll also need to go into your search with the answers to a few crucial questions if you want to improve your chances of success.

For instance, ask yourself:

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer to “how much does it cost to buy a business name?”. Titles come in a wide variety of styles, and each of them may have their own distinct price. Often, the price of a name will depend on things like which industry it was created for, and whether it’s an invented, traditional, descriptive, or modern name.

Because descriptive names are much simpler and easier to come up with than creative titles, you might find that titles using generic terms and keywords are a little less costly than the business names made from scratch. Before you go into your search, make sure you know how much you’re willing to pay for your name.

Remember, though it’s tempting to go for the cheapest option you can find, particularly when you’re a young company that’s just getting started – you do need to spend money to make money. Making the right investment into your business now could save you a fortune in the long-term.

With an idea of your budget in mind, you can begin to think about what you want your company’s title to say about you. The best business names can convey a lot of information about a brand in a single word. For instance, the word “Apple” might not tell you straight away that you’re dealing with a computer company, but it does indicate that you’re working with a brand that’s focused on growth, innovation, and evolution.

Ideally, when you visit a business name website, it will be a good idea to have a few crucial documents on hand, including your brand manifesto, and your user personas. If you don’t have those documents, just ask yourself:

• What kind of customers am I trying to appeal to, and what names do they already like?
• What do I want my audience to think or feel when they see or hear my name?
• How would I define a good business name? (Are you looking for simplicity, uniqueness, relevance to your product or service?)
• How long or short do I need this name to be, and why? (Maybe you want a name that would look good on a business card or app).
• Are there any words or sounds that I want to avoid?

Next, you’ll need to ensure that when you buy your business name, you’re investing in something that’s going to deliver long-term benefits for your brand. Once you’ve gotten to the point of asking yourself how to find a business name, you might be in such a panic about getting your company ready for launch, that you forget to think about the future.

It’s tempting to build a name based on what you know about your organisation now. After all, if you know that your company sells shoes, and it’s based in New York, the name “New York Shoes” makes a lot of sense. However, a title like that would make it very difficult for you to grow and expand in the future. Other things to keep in mind when making sure you’re buying a name for a business that’s future proof include:

• Your title should be reflective: Make sure that you’re choosing a title that highlights what your business stands for – not just what it sells or does. Try to get to the heart of your company’s personality with your title. That will give you a lot more growth opportunity in the future.
• Keep it simple: The name that you choose needs to be as simple as possible, so your customers can play a part in improving your exposure. A simple name is easier to discuss and share, opening you up to the benefits of word of mouth marketing.
• Test it in different mediums: Make sure that before you buy your business name, you test it in different formats to see how it looks or feels. For instance, put your name into a basic logo design, or try introducing it to people out loud. You can even run your titles past members of your team to see how they respond.

Once you know how to find a business name that’s worth your money, actually buying that title is a relatively straightforward process – particularly if you’re working with a company like Naimeo. Buying your business name from us is as simple as browsing through the categories that appeal most to you, adding a name to your cart, and proceeding to checkout. We’ll transfer your domain to you, complete with a .com URL and a placeholder logo.

However, while companies like Naimeo can give you the domain and URL that you need, it will be up to you to go and register your title with your local authorities. A naming business can’t do that work for you, because it requires some important documentation on your side. The fact that you’ll also need to register any name you buy from a website makes the question “how much does it cost to buy a business name?” a little harder to answer. Most governments will require you to pay a little for your registration too.

Since we’re based in the UK, here’s how to buy a business name and register it in the United Kingdom. If you want to know how to purchase a business name in the US, reach out to our team for some extra help.

Knowing your business format will help you to fill out the forms required for registering your name with the Companies House. You will need to register the name that you purchased from a company like Naimeo with the Companies House if you’re an LLC. Although you don’t necessarily have to register your title as a sole trader, doing so will give you more protection if someone ever tries to steal your identity.

At Naimeo, we can check that the domain name and .com URL for your chosen name is available. However, we can’t ensure that your name will be available and ready to use in your industry in your local environment. It’s up to you to run your title through the Company Name Availability Checker in the UK.

If you’re wondering how to buy your business name in the US, there’s a similar checking system available called TESS. Remember to be wary of special characters, punctuations and sensitive words that could be deemed offensive. Certain names will be harder to register for, even if they aren’t already taken by another brand.

Once you know that your name is available based on the results from the Company Name Availability Checker, keep on with your search. Remember, just because you have a .com domain name and access to your title in the legal world, doesn’t mean that you’ll be able to use it everywhere. If you want to build a valuable presence for your company online, then you’ll need to ensure that your new moniker is available in the form of social media handles and usernames too.

Sites like Naimeo.com allow you to purchase the titles that appeal to you with a couple of clicks. Once you’ve finished checking everything, go and add the name that you love to your basket, and finish the checkout process. Don’t worry, we’ll make sure that your domain name is transferred into your ownership as quickly as possible, along with the .com URL that you need to stand out online. We’ll also make it a little easier for younger companies to begin building their brands by providing a placeholder logo that you can use to get a feel for the aesthetic appeal of your name.

Again, registering your business name won’t always be required by law. However, it’s generally something that you should consider if you want to make sure that someone can’t come along and start using your title without your permission. Registering your name with the government will also ensure that you have an official title for your corporation when you’re paying your taxes. It costs around £170 to register a trademark in a specific class. Registering a specific class trademark means that companies won’t be able to use your name in the same industry that you’re trading in. If you want to file to register for other classes, then you’ll need to pay an extra £50 for each genre.

For the most part, buying a business name isn’t as complicated as it seems. A lot of company leaders assume that they need to work with a legal professional to register their company and establish a trademark. However, the truth is that you can file most of the documentation required for your title online. What’s more, with sites like Naimeo, buying the name and domain that you want for your company online is as simple as clicking a button.

We do have a few tips that could help you to boost your chances of a good investment, however. After all, buying the ultimate moniker for your brand isn’t just about asking “how do I buy a business name,” you’re also going to have to spend some time thinking about how you can set yourself up for success.

Remember to:

• Always buy from a reputable company: It’s not always easy to separate companies that you can trust from the ones that you can’t in today’s digital world. However, you can look for a few red flags on a naming brand’s website. For instance, if you can’t find any terms of service on the website or the contact page is mysteriously missing – that doesn’t look good. It’s also helpful to look for SSL encryption on the site that you’re buying from. This will mean that the website has a little padlock next to the URL in your search bar.
• Take your time when making a choice: When you’re launching a business, everything feels urgent. You know that you can only start making money and gathering customers once you’ve launched your business. Unfortunately, you can’t launch a company without finding an effective name first. However, this doesn’t mean that you should try and rush to the finish line. Be careful and choose a name based on what you know about your brand, the market you’re selling in, and your audience.
• Verify ownership of your new domain: Remember, once you’ve purchased a domain name and business name from a site like Naimeo, it’s best to go and verify that everything is set up as it should be. You should receive details from your hosting company to your company email address which you can use to check that your URL has been successfully transferred into your ownership.
• Always protect your names: Once you’ve gone through the process of painstakingly choosing, buying and registering your name, it’s important to make sure that you can protect it. The right business title is an important thing for the growth of you brand. Once you know how to purchase a business name, read through this article for more details on how to successfully trademark your title. Additionally, don’t be afraid to act against other companies that infringe on your trademark.

Another essential tip to keep in mind is that if you’re not buying your title from Naimeo, where you get a .com domain in with your purchase, you should always ensure that the.com domain is available. Some businesses only provide access to the name that you buy as intellectual property. This means that you don’t get a domain with your title – just the word itself. If this is the case, you’ll need to check that the .com version of the domain is available through a company like GoDaddy.com or NetworkSolutions.com.

Although there are other top-level-domain options available like .org, .net and .co.uk, it’s still .com that demands the most attention and respect in the digital world. Combine your .com domain with a name that says something valuable about your brand, and you’re sure to have a better chance of connecting with your audience when you’re buying the rights to a name.

Learning how to purchase a business name is simple enough, but it’s safe to say that there are a lot of somewhat exhausting steps involved. You’ll need to figure out how to find a business name that you can commit to and look into buying the rights to a name with your trademark office. In some cases, you might need to check the availability of your URL when you’re picking your title too.

Here at Naimeo.com, we’ve designed a strategy that’s intended to make buying your business name as simple as possible. We know how important it is to be able to find a name that speaks to your audience and take ownership of it as quickly as possible. That’s why we’ve transformed the name-buying process into a series of simple steps.

When you decide to purchase a business name from Naimeo, all you need to do is:

• Visit Naimeo.com and browse through our wide selection of names according to your style or sector (industry).
• Pick a name that appeals to you and add it to your cart (remember that someone else can still buy your name when it’s sitting in your cart, so act fast if you want to avoid disappointment).
• Check that your name is available in your area and with the appropriate social media platforms.
• Buy your name with our quick and simple checkout process (we offer a number of safe and secure payment options).

The team at Naimeo will work to get your domain name with a free .com URL transferred over to your ownership as quickly as possible, so you can begin building your new website and brand. We’ll also provide you with a logo that you can use when you’re searching for a designer to bring your name to life.

After that, all you need to do is register your name as a trademark in the UK (or any other country that you want to sell in) and you’re ready to start bringing your business to life.

Want to get started? Then check out the brilliant business names for sale on this website.

To get ahead. Get a great name. From Naimeo.