When you start a new craft business, one of the challenges is coming up with a catchy business name. You want it to be memorable and also reflect what the business is all about. Like naming a child, a lot of thought should go into naming a craft business. A name that is too obscure might leave people scratching their heads as to what the business is. At the same time, common descriptive words can a lot of times be already taken. This can lead to a lot of frustration when you want the perfect name. A technique that I learned in college, for coming up with business names, is a great help with getting the creative juices going. I will share that technique along with some pointers on creating meaningful craft business names that will help set your business apart.
How To Name Your Craft Business
Determine Business Goals
A lot of times, when you first start out a craft business, you may be only making one specific product. Or, you might only make things out of wood. If you are certain that a very specific niche is always what you want to do, you can get very specific with your name. However, if you are planning additional products in the future and want to keep yourself open to change, then a more general name is appropriate.
1. Make A List Of Nouns
Start by making a list of every noun or keywords that could relate to your craft business. This is the point where you write down every word that pops into your head. If it has anything to do with your craft, technique, subject, place, or where the craft will be used, write it down. You should end up with a pretty extensive list. Do not, however, use any brand names that have already been copyrighted. That could lead to legal trouble!
TIP: Unless you are famous or already have a huge online presence, I wouldn’t use an obscure name or one with a unique spelling. You do want to be found so less confusing is best.
For the sake of this excercise, I will be making sample lists that might apply to a craft business making wooden farmhouse signs for sale.
Sample List For Wooden Farmhouse Sign Business
I’m keeping the sample list to just 15 words. Try to come up with at least that many words and shoot for more like 25 or even 50, at least for the initial list. Remember to include even the crazy words that might pop in your head. You can narrow it down to ten or fifteen of your favorites. If you have trouble coming up with enough words, take a common word like crafts and check it in a thesaurus for similar names.
- craft
- signs
- farmhouse
- farm
- cow
- art
- decor
- crops
- wood
- woodworks
- home
- letters
- words
- creations
- designs
2. Make A List Of Adjectives Or Verbs
Now, think of all the adjectives or descriptive words for your craft. This list will probably be a little longer since there are more possiblities in general. Here is what I came up with for my sample business.
- wooden
- painted
- woodburned
- inspirational
- creative
- woodburning
- made
- rustic
- cheerful
- salvaged
- serious
- humorous
- uncommon
- unique
- distressed
Combine Words For Possible Names
Now comes the fun part. Start combining preferrably two and maybe three short words for possible craft business names. Just keep it at twenty characters or less for simplicity. How do the pairings sound together? Do they have a nice flow? You can use a couple of words from either of the lists. It doesn’t have to necessarily be one from each list. It’s also possible that you will use other versions of a word. For instance, farmhouse could be a noun or an adjective. Both Creative Farmhouse and Farmhouse Creations are possibilities from just a couple of initial words.
This name generator excercise is super helpful to start with. Just place your list of words side by side and start coming up with some pairs that work. Change the form of the word where necessary. Quite often once you start pairing words your mind will be triggered for other options or word choices. Jot these down as well. The more options that you have the better, especially when you start checking for availability.
From the small list of sample names that I came up with, there are some general craft busines name choices as well as more specific to a farmhouse sign business. Craft Creations is the most general in the list. It could be for any type of craft business. Names like Distressed Woodworks or Woodwork Farm indicate a business that deals with wood crafts. Creative Cow or Letter Crops are both more unique names that could apply to farmhouse or signs. Again, the more words that you have, the more options or help with name ideas.
Check Availability
Once you decide on a few business name possibilities, it’s time to check and make sure they aren’t already taken. You will be amazed at how often your super unique idea has already been used!
First google the name to see if anything comes up. This is a quick way to weed out any popular names. If your desired name is already taken, think of how you can tweak it to make it unique. Make sure to check social media as well. Search the name on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter even if you don’t use them now.
Then, I would check is to make sure the domain name is available at Google Domains. Even if you are starting your business as brick and mortar, on Etsy or at craft shows only, you want to have the ability to use the name for a future blog or website. With so much selling done online, it’s good to keep that option open. If your desired name is available, you might want to purchase the domain even if you won’t be using it right away. This will ensure that no one else takes the domain name before you. It’s only about $12/year which is worth the security of knowing you have it for future use.
If you plan on selling at a place like Etsy, check the name in their search first. You’ll have to enter the name with no spaces.
For brick and mortar businesses, file a DBA (doing business as) with your state. Each state has different requirements at the state, city, or county level.
It would seem that there are a lot of chances that your desired name could be already used somewhere. That’s where some of those crazier words might help to tweak your own name. In combination with a solid keyword, your combo just might be perfect!
