if you are stuck on choosing a business name then this episode is for you
because we are going to get you unstuck today
i work with a lot of new health coaches and there is one business task that i see so
many of them get stuck on and that is choosing a business name this one decision has the ability to
stop you in your tracks for many people it's hard to move forward until you have made a decision
on your business name so if this is you if you are stuck on choosing a business name then this
episode is for you because we are going to get you unstuck today i'm also going to show you
how to legally protect your name and the four basic steps that you need to take right now
to make sure that you are protected for the future so if you're new to me i'm kim foster and i'm an
md turned wellness coach a business mentor to my fellow health and wellness coaches and
also the founder of the wellness coach academy an online training school for coaches now deciding
what to name your coaching business can be a huge obstacle for many new coaches so let's dive in
and take care of this issue for you today before we get there though i want to just take a second
to let you know that the doors are now open to my monthly membership program the wellness ceo
club this is the program that i created for go-getters in the wellness space who are either
building their businesses or would love to do so this club is going to give you so many things
a community training resources expert help tons of support and at a very affordable price if you are
passionate about building a health and wellness coaching business and you are keen to network and
build relationships and learn new skills and you're looking for inspiration and friendship
then this club is definitely for you and i would love to have you in there i will put a link in
the description box don't delay though because we are only enrolling for a very limited time
and you don't want to miss it okay that said let's get back to the topic for today now when
it comes to naming your business to break things down as simply as possible you really only have
two main options the first is a personal brand and the second is a business name so let's take a look
at both of those choices first of all a personal brand so this means that you simply use your own
name to represent your business like me kim foster this is what i have done i use my name
as my business name now there are several pros to this approach including first of all building
a really close connection with your audience when you work with me you don't work with a
corporate entity or a large faceless consulting group you work with me another key advantage to
using a personal brand using your own name is that it's flexible it will always be your name
no matter what direction your business takes you can pivot you can change your niche
you can specialize in something different you can build in additional services and you can do it all
under the umbrella of your name it also gives you the opportunity to build your own platform this
is something unique to you that nobody else can lay claim to another benefit is that your name
cannot be copied you are who you are now there are also some disadvantages to using your own name and
creating a personal brand the main one is that when someone new encounters your business your
name alone just doesn't tell a potential client anything about you or your business or what you do
so you have to do more work perhaps in the beginning of building your platform to show
and demonstrate what you are all about also you are the face of your brand there's no getting
away from that there's no corporate image to hide behind which is in my opinion a good thing
but i know that some people just don't feel comfortable with that and so it's important
to be aware of it now let's take a look at option number two which is choosing a business name a
business name is where you come up with a creative name for your business something that's other than
your own name so some examples are parsley health mind body green and noom a business name gives
you a chance for self-expression and it becomes part of your brand it often describes what you do
in a nice concise way a business name can be very creative it can be clever it can be fun
and it can be unique it can really stand out if you are choosing the right name
that is of not if it's not generic if it's something that is truly unique and uniquely
you so when choosing a business name based on what it is that you're doing and who you help
it can actually help people to remember you and recognize you that is if the name is chosen in the
right way and if it makes sense for you but there are some disadvantages to this approach one is
that there will be no flexibility and you may be boxing yourself in you won't be able to pivot so
you want to be really confident that this is the business or niche that you really are committed to
building for the long term another disadvantage to choosing a business name is that's not your name
is the issue of building an invisible shield between you and your client it kind of creates a
bit of distance so the relationship is not as warm as personal in my opinion and it's a little more
professional and detached potentially also people may not necessarily be able to find you you may be
kind of hard to find depending on how well known you are they may be looking for your name but they
may not actually be able to find your website now one problem that i have seen happen often
with new coaches is that they choose a name that's very generic and it really doesn't set them apart
you could go on google and find hundreds and hundreds of blogs and pages and website
that all kind of sound the same you don't want to be one of these so if you decide to choose
a business name that is not your name you want to make sure that it's unique and that it stands out
and that it communicates very clearly what you do as a coach another really important thing that you
want to keep in mind when choosing a business name is to not hide behind your company name
if you choose to select a business name that is not your own name make sure that you are really
communicating what you're all about and let your personality shine through it's really important
for your success as a coach to build a relationship and show people
who you are people work with us coaches because of our personalities and our values and what we stand
for and the people we really are it's all about building trust building relationships and helping
your clients to achieve results now another pitfall to keep in mind is that your system can
always be copied it's a little alarming but it's kind of true your method your system your coaching
strategies your recipes all the tangible things in your process or your curriculum they can be copied
by other people but what can never be copied is who you truly are what you stand for and the value
that you bring to the market that can never be copied so my recommendation to you is to be who
you are choose your name as your business name no matter how hard it is to pronounce or spell
and just go out there and really own who you are and what you do my bottom line especially
for most new coaches is just to go with a personal brand and use your own name to get started again
the main benefit is flexibility what i have found is that health coaches tend to evolve over time if
you name your business using the words digestive health but you realize after two or three years
that your true passion has actually evolved and do more of a spiritual mind-body wellness focus
you'll need to rebrand and start over simply using your own name means you won't have to
scrap your whole business and start over from scratch the most important thing is to not
let this decision be an obstacle for you getting out there i have seen many coaches get really
blocked by this so do not let that happen when you're setting up your business there are a lot
of decisions to be made do not let this decision stop your forward progress that's actually another
one of the reasons why i personally prefer using your own name it's simple it's not going to change
and it lets you get on with the business of building and growing your business now here
are a couple of questions that my clients have asked me in the past about their business name
should my site url match my business name so generally yes it's best if your website url
is the same as your business name or is a close approximation now there's no requirement for this
to be the case but i recommend it people sometimes forget urls so the more similar your website url
is to your business name the better people will be able to find you that much easier the
next question is do i own the business name if i purchased the domain sadly you don't purchasing
the domain only means that you own the website url and nobody else can use that exact same domain
which is great but it does not ensure that someone else you know can't use the same name so the next
question is how do i know if somebody else has chosen the name that i want now this is really
important so let's walk through the four step process to figure this out and then protect the
name that you have chosen so step one is to go to your local patent and trademark office or website
here you can search and see if anybody owns your business name already or if anybody has chosen a
similar name that might be in competition with yours businesses are typically registered with
the state or province in which you are located and every state and province is you know it's
kind of organized a little differently so you will want to research the database for your particular
location but if the business name that you desire is already trademarked by somebody else that
means that they do have legal protection of that name if you work in the same or a similar field
you will want to select a different name so that you don't infringe on their registered trademark
step number two is to go to google naturally you want to make sure that nobody has you know
claimed your name so look for domains or websites articles taglines any marketing materials or
things that could be construed as the same name just google it and also while you're at it look
it up on social media just plug in your chosen business name and see what comes up make sure
no one else is running a similar business with that name now the third step is to go to amazon
i think it's really important to see if anybody has written a book with your name
um or if anybody has used your chosen business name in any way on amazon for you know any sort of
publication that might prevent you from choosing that name the last strategy is to simply go to
godaddy.com or hostgator and purchase your domain name and while you're at it consider purchasing
any variations of your business name and even the misspellings so once you've taken all four steps
to do the research and you are convinced that you have the right business name i suggest you
actually go and claim it and register with the patent office for your country you can get a
lawyer to help you with this of course or go to a site like legalzoom.com and let them
do the work for you it's important to realize that you don't own your business name until you
actually register your business again depending on your country and state or province you can usually
register your business as a sole proprietor or form a corporate entity like an llc or an
s corp okay so let's just recap when it comes to selecting a business name you have got two
basic choices a personal brand which is basically using your own name or a business name and there
are advantages and disadvantages to both and you do want to carefully consider all the factors
that relate to you but for most coaches what i usually recommend is simply choosing your own
name creating a personal brand and then going forward from there okay that is what i've got
for you today i hope that you enjoyed this episode i hope that it helped you to give you some ideas
for how to name your business and most importantly i hope it helped you simply make a decision and
get on with the project of growing your business and now i would love to hear from you drop me a
comment if you are watching on youtube or go ahead and find me on instagram i'm at dr kim foster
to let me know what you thought of this topic and what your ideas are for naming your business and
like i said if you are ready to join an amazing community of like-minded entrepreneurs and be
inside a program that gives you everything you need to start grow and scale your wellness
business then i would love for you to check out the wellness ceo club which is enrolling now
for a very limited time alright that's a wrap thank you so much for being here i
really appreciate you as always take care stay well and i will see you next time
you