Starting a new business is exciting and challenging.

Maybe you’re looking to turn your side hustle into your career, want to start a company or to make money from a hobby such as blogging and quit your 9 to 5. In any case, you need to register your business and that includes naming it.

The process of choosing the right name for your new business doesn’t need to be daunting, but you also want to make sure you won’t regret it a year from now.

It’s worth taking your time in order to find the best name for your new business. Keep in mind you’ll be creating a brand with that too, whether you like it or not.

The name of your business will be used everywhere when building your online presence and networking.

Here are some tips to help you choose the right one:

1. Keep in mind the characteristics of a good business name.

A good business name has certain characteristics. Make sure:

• It sounds good when you say it out loud;
• It’s simple;
• It can be remembered easily;
• To keep it brief;
• Nothing similar exists.

2. Get creative.

You probably already have many ideas in mind. Write them all down. List all you can think of without wondering whether it makes sense or is good enough.

You can also use businessnamegenerator.com to get some ideas for creating a unique business name.

Include things you’re passionate about, foreign words, book or movie characters, or geographical names. Starbucks, for example, was named after a Moby-Dick character. And Jeff Bezos named Amazon after the biggest river in the world.

Now, go through the criteria we mentioned above and see what business names from the list meet them all.

During this stage of the process of naming your new business, you will remove many items from your list.

3. Check its availability.

Even if you aren’t interested in trademarking the name any time soon, you’ll want to know what’s out there online that sounds similar to your name.

If there are websites, small brands and social media accounts using exactly that business name, you’ll want to think of a different version.

You must build brand awareness once you start your new business. That means standing out from the crowd, providing value and being recognized in your niche. Your name is one great opportunity to never be mistaken for the competition.

4. Think long-term.

Do some of the business names you came up with address your current interests or life stage? That might not be relevant a few years from now.

You need to think long-term when naming your business.

That means seeing your company 1, 5 and 10 years from now and asking yourself what name will fit its image now and then.

5. Add a unique touch.

By now you must have a few ideas that all seem like what your business can be called. But how can you make one of them even more unique?

You can use your personality and experience so that the business name can mean something.

Richard Branson, for example, named Virgin this way because he was completely new to the world of business.

Using your name will mean that’s sort of your personal brand but you can also use initials or a childhood nickname.

Alternatively, keep it interesting and grab attention by making a grammar mistake on purpose. You can also omit a letter or abbreviate.

If you have 2 or 3 ideas that you really want to use when naming your business, you might combine them. That’s what Groupon did with the words group and coupon.

Here are more examples of how some big companies got their names.

If you follow the tips for naming your business above, you’ll be good to go and ready to register your company. Good luck.