Dude, It's Marketing

Getting Started: What's in the Name

Coming up with a name for your startup is difficult when you consider that this is something you will need to live with for a very long time, especially if you're successful which is the goal of course. Many rush into naming their company without considering how much it matters both when you're starting out and over the longer term.

I don't believe there is a silver bullet in naming your company and you don't need to spend weeks or thousands of dollars to come up with one but there are a few attributes that you should focus on when naming your company. These include making sure the name is distinct, meaningful, and memorable. 

Distinct

Picking a name that's distinct is crucial for many reasons but legally you are not allowed to select a name that is similar to others in your industry. You also want to make sure that the name you select is not used by a lot of other companies in a lot of different industries as that will clearly impact where it comes up in a search. You don't want to be one of a hundred "Acme whatever" that comes up when you search.

Being different is just part of it though, a name that is distinct will stand out and be remembered more easily by your audience which will help you with all of your marketing efforts going forward. You need to stand out from the crowd with everything you do and your name is the best place to start.

Meaningful

While some will disagree with me, I also think the name should be meaningful and explain what you do. I will grant you that there are some notable exceptions, like Google and Amazon, where the name initially gives you no indication of their business. But, I'll counter with Apple who in its early days was Apple Computers. The word "Computer" was only removed in 2007 when it was a well-known brand and the addition had actually become restrictive and misleading as it was into many other lines of business.

And this is what I mean, if your name includes what business you are in then it will be more meaningful to your audience and you will not need to waste valuable words explaining what you do each time. But don't make the name too restrictive in case you want to expand into other businesses or markets in the future. Renaming your company may be the only thing that's more difficult than picking a name in the first place.

Memorable

The hardest attribute I mentioned above is to make your name memorable. It's easy with a quick search to see if you name is distinct and if you agree with making your name memorable then figuring out what business you are in should be relatively straightforward too. The issue with a picking a memorable name is that it's subjective so it's difficult to judge if your name is memorable or not.

One test is to show it to a few people (if they are in your industry that's even better) and get their feedback but grow some thick skin here as everyone will have an opinion. But even more important is to sleep on your name ideas for a few days or weeks if you have time. If one of them still stands out you may have a winner and this is also a good test to make sure you won't grow tired of it as you need to live with this selection for a long time (hopefully).

I'm not going to lie and say that picking a name is easy. When you are getting started, this is absolutely one of the most important decisions you are going to make. There are many more factors that you should consider but I wanted to outline a few attributes for you to have in the back of you mind when picking a name. In the next post, I'll look at what not to do when picking a name. 

Getting Started: Is There a Market for My Idea?

A startup begins with an idea for a product or service but this is really only the first step when you're getting started. While you may think your idea is revolutionary, will others? If you want to make a business out of it, you need to make sure there is a market for your product or service. Put another way, will people buy your idea and if so will they buy it instead of other similar ideas?

Before you invest too much time and money in your idea, you'll want to research the market to ensure there is a need for your idea and that you can make money off of it. You will also want to evaluate the competition so you know that you can differentiate your product or service from them.

While some dismiss market research because people don't always know what they want, it's important to talk to some prospective customers to get their insights into what they need to make their life or jobs easier or more efficient. Even if you don't size the market (although you will need to do this if you want to raise outside money) or test the concept with focus groups, these discussions will provide valuable insights that give you a better understanding of your audience which is absolutely critical.

They may not understand your idea in its early stages but listening to your customers-to-be could give you additional thoughts for improvements or refinements that could make the difference between success and failure. Instead of presenting your concept and getting input, have a coversation to see how your prospects solve that problem today.

It's rare that your concept won't have indirect competitors even if you don't see any direct ones at this early stage. If there really is no competition, then it could very well mean you have no market too. That's why these discussions and informal research are absolutely critical. You want to make sure there is a market before you invest substantial amounts of time and money.

But don't take this competitive research too far as you need to forge your own path and make your product or service significantly different that their product. If you follow the competition then you will surely fail. Very few people are going to switch to your solution if you are only 2x better. In many cases, they may not even switch if you're 10x better.

Once you take this valuable input from prospective customers into account and define a product or service that has a clear market and is more compelling than the competition, then you'll need to make sure the messages that you deliver communicate not only the value but how you are different. 

We'll talk a lot more about messaging in this startup stage (you can read some previous posts on this topic) but the next post in this series will be some thoughts on selecting a name so stay tuned. In the meantime, if you there are any problems or issues you face getting started, leave them in the comments and I'll try to address them. 

Getting Started: Stages of a Startup

A couple of months ago, I wrote a post about some of the first marketing steps you should take when you start a company as a result of a call from a friend. But then I realized that this is a problem many face and it would be great to talk about what needed to be done, from a marketing perspective, in the early stages of a startup.

Before I get into some of the marketing strategies and tactics that you need to look into, I thought it would make a lot of sense to actually define the different stages that a startup goes through in its lifecycle. This process could last months but will likely take years.  

I'll focus on the marketing aspects of each stage in this post as there are obviously product development, financing, sales, support and many other aspects as well to each stage but those are for another blog. 

Idea

It all begins with an idea for a product, service or company but this really is only the beginning. Before you invest too much time and money, you'll want to do some market research, informal is fine, to ensure there is a decent sized market for your idea and also evaluate the competition so you know that you can differentiate your product or service from them. This is also the stage where you need to make some hard choices around naming, branding and messaging for your company so that you can set it up properly from the start.

Launch

While the idea is being developed into a product, its time to put the foundation in place for your company from a marketing perspective. At some point you need to get the word out about this revolutionary product. But it's not just a matter of building a website and they will come. You need to launch the company using a variety of tactics from PR to social media to get thought leadership and word of mouth going. You'll also need to have the sales tools ready to answer why anyone needs your product and why is it better. 

Validation

At this point, you need to focus and land your first customers. It's absolutely critical that you get this validation from the market and to learn more about what you product needs and how it can be improved. Partners can help a lot in this area from rounding out the solution to bringing credibility with customers. Leverage this validation through PR and other marketing activities as it's a crucial proof point for other prospects. 

Growth

But rarely will that first customer set you up for life, so now it's time to build on this success and grow the customer base for your product or service. You need to scale by repeating that first sale tens or hundreds of times depending on the size of each deal. This is where the marketing activities need to scale by doing more of what you've been doing with a focus on lead generation and helping sales drive those prospects through the sales funnel.

Transition

Once your startup reaches a certain size, in terms of customers, employees, or revenue, then it's time to transition to the next phase of your company. This could be anything from selling the company to building it even larger and ultimately taking it public. The main point here is that you are no longer a startup and need to put in place the infrastructure and team to take it to the next level.

Over the next few weeks, I plan to do a series of Getting Started posts that explore these stages but more importantly look at the marketing startegies and tactics in more detail. In the meantime, let me know if these stages and tactics map to your experiences or issues you're facing now with your startup.