How to Choose a Name For Your Freelance Business

Every couple of weeks, I see posts on LinkedIn asking how people chose their business name. I don't know whether there's a LinkedIn trainer out there suggesting this topic, whether it's in a freebie list of post ideas somewhere, or whether people are genuinely just curious, but it's clearly a popular topic.

And choosing a business name is definitely something a lot of freelancers get hung up on.

But the name you choose for your business doesn't have to be the name you use forever, so why overthink it?

In the grand scheme of freelancing, your business name won't make a huge difference to your success. What will make a difference is whether you get clients or not, and chances are, they won't be choosing to work with you just because you picked a good company name.

So, if you can't think of a business name you like, don't sweat it. Use your own name until you get a feel for the type of work and clients you want to attract.

Using your name in your company name

When I was in the early days of freelancing, I read something about choosing a name for your business. This particular piece was aimed at copywriters, and it suggested using your own name when you're starting out because it's your name people will remember, not some random business name.

I think this is excellent advice (and not just for copywriters). And it's exactly what I did. I bought lisaslatercopywriting.com and traded as Lisa Slater Copywriting for three years. When I incorporated Make Your Copy Count Ltd in 2016, I bought a new domain name and redirected my old website to the new site - easy peasy.

And trading under my own name was definitely beneficial. Even after I changed the business name, nobody was recommending Make Your Copy Count - they were recommending me, Lisa Slater.

When you're networking, you introduce yourself, not your business name, so why not make them one and the same?

Including the thing you do in your company name

Including the thing you do in your company name (for example, Lisa Slater Copywriting or LS Mentoring) can be useful. It gives people a general idea of what you do, and if you use it as your domain name, you've got a keyword in the URL. It won't have a major impact on your search rankings, but it won't hurt them.

But including the thing you do in your company name can be risky. I know plenty of freelancers who rushed into picking a business name with the thing they do in it, only to change their core services within months.

Sometimes people start quite broad with their services (for example, they offer writing services) but then decide to specialise (for example, they want to focus purely on proofreading). Other people start quite niche (web design), but then decide to go broader (digital marketing). If they included the original thing they did in their company name, it wouldn't quite fit when they pivoted.

And this is not a problem if you are a sole trader who only uses the name here and there, as you can easily switch (like I did). But it can be a problem if you've invested loads of money into a logo and branding, a website, fancy business cards, promotional items and so on. Or if you've incorporated your company and have bank accounts and such, all registered under that name.

I included "copywriting" in my orginal company name because I knew I probably wouldn't keep that business name forever. The domain name was cheap, I used a free website builder, and I got a small number of business cards printed, so I barely invested anything into the "brand", which made it easier to switch.

I wouldn't recommend going all in on branding until you have a few clients under your belt and are confident you won't drastically change your services any time soon.

Including your location in your business name

If you are confident you will only be covering a certain geographical area, you might want to include your location (for example, 'West Yorkshire Web Design' or 'Harrogate Bookkeeping Services').

As with including what you do in your business name, including a location has pros and cons. It lets people know where you are based, which is good if you have to meet clients face-to-face (plus some people prefer working with local businesses), and it can help with SEO (again, it won't make a huge difference).

But the downside is you could outgrow your name if you decide to expand into a new area, or if you move to a different city.

Using unusual words or alternative spellings in your company name

People often try to think of unusual, distinctive business names (such as Synapti Serve or Auralynx Assist). Or they opt for alternative spellings of common words or business names that are a play on words (for example, NexTaask or Echonomi Assist).

The problem is your potential clients might struggle to remember it (because it's unusual or hard to pronounce) or they might struggle to spell it, which can make it hard for them to find you online. It can also cause problems when people try to email you and spell your company name incorrectly, leading to important emails never making it to your inbox.

If you want to find out whether an unusual name is memorable, share your suggestion with a friend or family member, then ask them if they can remember it 24 hours later. If it doesn't stick, you might want to look at an alternative.

And unless you're happy to constantly spell out your business name and email address to people, you might prefer to stick to something simple.

Random words in business names

Some people choose business names that have a personal significance to them. For example, using the initials of their children or including an item that has meaning to them (such as a certain type of flower). Some people just pick a random word or name because they like it.

It might be unrelated to what you do, but that's not an issue. Nike is named after a Greek Goddess. Apple doesn't sell fruit. And Amazon is not located near the Amazon.

And because it won't be obvious what you do or sell from the name, it doesn't matter if you change your products or services in the future.

Using a hybrid name or acronym

Squishing two words (or parts of two words) together is pretty common for business names - Facebook, LinkedIn, Wordpress and so on. These are more memorable than random words because they use words we are familiar with.

Another approach to company names is to use an acronym (IBM, BBC, NASA). This makes your company name much shorter (easier to spell and search for).

If you do have a long name in mind, it's worth considering using an abbreviated version. I opted for Make Your Copy Count, which I love, but it is a rather long name to type out every time. MYCC would certainly have saved me a lot of typing time.

Summary

I'm not entirely sure you'll be any closer to settling on a name after reading this, but hopefully, you'll be a bit clearer on some of the pros and cons of the different options.

My biggest piece of advice would be not to overthink it, especially if you haven't started getting clients yet. A lot can change in your first few years of freelancing, and the name you pick now might not feel like the right fit in two years. The good thing is you can always change your business name later (although I wouldn't recommend changing it too often).

Alternatively, you can always set up a new arm of your business under a different name (like I have with The Freelance Fairytale). If you're a sole trader, you would just invoice as: Your Name t/a Your Company Name.

If you have a limited company, you can include a note on all your marketing materials (e.g. The Freelance Fairytale is a trading name of Make Your Copy Count Ltd.) and/or invoice as: Your Registered Company Name t/a Alternative Trading Name.

So don't worry too much about picking the right name - pick the right name for now. The most important thing to focus on is getting clients, because if you don't have clients, it really doesn't matter how good your business name is.