Naming Baby

Ok, we have accepted the fact we are going to start a new business selling handcrafts via the Internet. And just like being a little pregnant, the first thing we want to do is name it. Advice? Don't drink Pisco Sours while figuring out a name for your company. This is your brand. It is important that the company name is associated with the type of company you have in mind, except if you are a lawyer or PR person where using your actual name is not only a benefit, but it feels good too.

Most important is to make sure there is no one else out there with that name. Too many times, companies have started the ball rolling, spent thousands of dollars getting creative advertising done, built a web site, handed out business cards, and screenprinted tee-shirts to find out that Joe Smith owns a company by the same name the next town over! How do you find out if anyone else is using the name you wish to bestow on your brand new little baby?

1) Search the Internet - Are there 300,000 companies out there using your chosen name in some way? - Back to the drawing board

2) Check for trademarks - log on to http://www.uspto.gov/ where you can do a quick check (if it passes here, great, but don't go hiring the ad agency yet)

3) Check for exisiting domain names - if you don't see it, GRAB IT and get your domain name registered

4) File with your Secretary of State if you plan on forming a corporation, LLC, or other partnerships. They'll let you know if someone in your state is already doing business under that name or a very similar name

5) If you cleared all the above hurdles -GO BACK TO http://www.uspto.gov/ AND GET A TRADEMARK.

So, needless to say, our time running short in Peru, the name of our business just popped up before our eyes. On a visit to Pachacamac, home of the ugliest dog, and where the great sun god Inti was celebrated with a little blood lust, we came across this sign. "Mamacuna." I liked the ring of it. Cuna translates from Spanish as "cradle" and although there is no literal translation of the term, these women were the chosen wise women who educated Inca girls from the cradle and trained them in the traditional crafts. Mamacuna - keepers of the traditional arts and crafts - we liked that, and added Traders to better define our business mission. There you have it. Mamacuna Traders was ready to get started - all we needed to do was write a business plan and figure out how much this endeavor would cost us.

Next post - How not to fall asleep while writing a business plan.