{"id":41896,"date":"2023-10-20T15:17:16","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:17:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/five-deadly-sins-when-choosing-a-name-for-your-start-up-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:17:16","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:17:16","slug":"five-deadly-sins-when-choosing-a-name-for-your-start-up-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/five-deadly-sins-when-choosing-a-name-for-your-start-up-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"Five deadly sins when choosing a name for your start-up – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
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When is a rebrand not really a rebrand?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Arguably, it\u2019s when the process doesn\u2019t actually alter your business\u2019 name, as is the case with food franchise Fasta Pasta.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The business has switched its logo and colour palate<\/a> and most observers would probably agree the new look is a significant upgrade.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

However, by keeping the word \u2018Fasta\u2019 as part of the name, there is only so far the franchise can drag itself upmarket. The dilemma is, of course, that certain brand recognition and loyalty has formed around the moniker.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For start-ups, this should be less of a problem. If you realise you have a turkey of a business name, you can quickly switch it before you\u2019re widely known.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But it would be better to avoid such pitfalls in the first place. Here are five business naming sins you need to dodge.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1. Treading on the toes of another businesses<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

Most entrepreneurs worth their salt will conduct a search to ensure their business name choice isn\u2019t currently used by an existing company.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

However, be aware that registering your business name in Australia does little to prevent a rival claiming that you\u2019ve infringed their intellectual property.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Take the case of NSW media start-up Business Insider, which was forced to change its name to Business Ink last week<\/a> following legal action taken by New York-based Business Insider \u2013 which has only recently expanded to Australia.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As Mark Cleary, co-founder of Business Ink, told us: \u201cYour search for a name needs to be global and you need to avoid similar names, because it\u2019s just too hard to compete when it comes to hard cash\u201d.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2. Getting lost in translation<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

Peugeot is the butt of jokes in southern China, where its translated name, Biao zhi, sounds unhappily like the regional slang for \u201cprostitute.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Sci-Fi Channel attempted to make itself more \u2018hip\u2019 by switching its name to \u201cSyfy\u201d, apparently unaware that the term is a shorthand for \u2018syphilis\u2019.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s Sydney tech venture Wynbox, which headed to Silicon Valley with big dreams, only to find that its original name, Wyngle, sounded too much like \u2018wangle\u2019 to American ears<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The lesson is clear \u2013 think carefully about what your chosen names means to people of different ages and cultures. You could be making a horribly embarrassing slip-up.<\/p>\n

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Story continues on page 2. Please click below.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When is a rebrand not really a rebrand?   Arguably, it\u2019s when the process doesn\u2019t actually alter your business\u2019 name,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60628,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,24,20,13,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41896"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41896"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41896\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}