What’s in a name? | Day 7
It turns out, a lot.
When it comes to company names, everyone seems to have an opinion. But let me tell you, there's more to it than meets the eye. The process of choosing the perfect name for your company is like trying to solve a Rubik's Cube while riding a unicycle – it's complex, precarious, and often hilarious.
There's more to the process than just picking a cool-sounding name. You have to consider various factors, such as:
Is the name memorable?
Can people pronounce it easily?
Does it relate to what the company does? If not, is the business idea itself obvious enough to avoid confusion?
Does the name have unintended meanings in other languages?
Can you trademark it or 'own' it?
Is the domain available?
Is the name too long or too similar to competitors' names?
Is the name easily usable in marketing campaigns?
Is the name SEO friendly?
And the list goes on...
My own journey to finding the perfect name for my company, The Well Home, was quite an adventure. I explored numerous possibilities, some of which made me chuckle, others that made me cringe, and a few that came close to being "the one."
Here's just a few 😳 we considered:
The Well House
The Healthy Home
Well, Okay
Well Estate
Life, Well Lived
LiveWell
LivedWell
D'wellbeing
Well, by Design
Dwell+Being
d/wellbeing
Lifestyle
HoM
Feel well
Live well
H'om by Dr G
Home well
Well home
Thrive
Healthy Habitats
Inhabit
GaGu
WellDwell
Well Made
H'ohm
Wingman
BI'Home
Well at Home
Home Life
Well Life
Gauze
Well Span
Humanology
WellCare
Well Craft
Artisan Health
Well X (experience)
BeTheChange
Elementwell
Wellement
LuxeWell
Gaut / Got Well
Feel Good
GautWell
Gaut Health
GULATI
Generation Well
Do Well (aka D'Well)
Do Well Being
Well Lab
Well Works
Home Life
The Good Life
Human Kind
Humanity
GCo
Jaan Well
Well Jaan
Haal
Haum
Samsara
BIOM
Bi-AUM
BiOhm
Wellism
Wello
BIOME
Humin (Human Insights)
Ity
In Plain Sight
Home Body
Homey
The Well Home Project
The Well Home
The Well Life
Tao
Wellogy
Wellify
Wellomics
Habitome
Well'ing
Well Space
Dash Well
Well Works
WellBox
9355 (well in numbers)
WeWell
All's Well
One Life
Life Unit
The Interval
Dash
One
Well Sense
Momentum
Well World
Land of Well
Wellcome
YOLO
Well Beyond
Space
Awe
Wonder & Awe
LuxeWell
LuxeWell Home
Perch
Wellevate
Wellify
On Being Well
Human'Ology
😵💫
So why did I ultimately choose "The Well Home"?
To be honest, it wasn't my first choice. My initial winner was "Dwellbeing," a clever blend of "dwell" and "wellbeing." It tested well with focus groups, but unfortunately, it didn't sit well with the folks at the global conglomerate Dwell Magazine. They felt it would cause brand confusion and threatened legal action if we didn't change the name.
[side note: you might recall my reference to receiving a 'cease and desist' letter from my Day 0 post from last week on Collecting Dots.]
Rather than draining our resources in a legal battle, we decided to pivot and find a new name. As fate would have it, Dwell Magazine later expressed interest in featuring our company (when market ready) and offered us a future dedicated column on wellness design for the home. They even invited us to showcase one of our projects on their website. Talk about a plot twist!
So, again, why "The Well Home"?
Mostly because it resonated with focus groups, conveyed warmth and trustworthiness, and was self-explanatory. On the business side, several domains were available, the words were considered generic and non-trademarkable (read: lawsuit-proof), and the name made it clear as to what we did as a company and who our target audience was.
This last point is crucial because, as an innovation executive, I've learned over the years that products requiring multiple behavior changes (or complicated explanations) are destined for failure.
Since we were creating a new market category at the intersection of health and real estate, we didn't want to add the burden of having to explain our name to customers. As the saying goes, "Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler."
The takeaway?
Things happen for a reason, and sometimes, they turn out for the better. Go with the flow. You have big dreams to chase and a universe to impact, so don't let setbacks consume you or foster bitterness.
Make a decision, and move on.
