Business Name

[Chappyk]

Hello. I started researching soap making a few years back and had come up also with a name I wanted to use should I begin to sell. I purchased thedirtyboysoapcompany.com a few years back and now see similar names such as dbsoaps.com for dirty Boy soap as well as a separate dirty Boy soaps on FB. Should I now redesign and come up with a new name because of similaritlies?

 

[ilovesoap2]

I wouldn't...plus you may have to change it again, and again. And again.
I came up with a 2 word url that I was so excited about, went to register, and bam, it was already taken. I was surprised, thinking I was being so original but someone else beat me to it and now I'm not interested in anything remotely close. Some people are not like that though and will take super close variations of your site name. It's annoying but what can you do? Good luck in whatever decision you make.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Are their branding anything like yours? Chances for confusion on more than just the name? When yes, maybe do so But if The Dirty Boy Soap Company is still free on FB, go for it - you want to have a consistent name over all platforms as much as possible.

 

[pamielynn]

"dbsoap" is pretty generic. I may have even owned a variation on that at some point and my company name is nowhere close to dirtyboy. Look for all the variations that are even remotely close to yours and buy them up. Keep the name, because it's cool - but think like a customer who likes your soap but can't quite remember the name.

"I like that dirty-something soap" "That boy-something soap is great - now what was the name?". Especially if you have customers like my mom - she still doesn't remember how to say Darth Vader! She calls him Darth Raider and Star Wars came out in 1977, lol.

Just grab whatever is still available and make it yours - then put your original url on everything you come in contact with.

 

[Serenity]

Before you decide on a business name you should research what they call the "triple threat" - trademark, business name, domain name. Your chosen name needs to be available in all of these categories for you to trade under that name. Investigate the trademark first. If there are no conflicting trademarks, then you can check if the business name and domain name are also available. These days, if you don't register a trademark then the name is never truly yours, so that's something I'd be doing up front as well. If you don't register a trademark for your name and someone else trademarks a similar name, your name could then be infringing on their trademark and you'll have to prove to the trademark office that you've been trading under that name and so on. That's how it works in Australia anyway. I hope that gives you a place to start.

 

[lenarenee]

Also, keep in mind that by the time you start selling one or more of those companies may not be in business, or will have changed their name.

If you think your company's name suits you, if you love it....then claim it and make it your own. And good luck to you in the future!