Your business name will be the cornerstone of your brand. It should work well wherever you use it - on the phone, in your logo, signage, stationery, advertisements, website, email and any other media you plan to use to reach the market.

When choosing a name for your business, you should think about the following points:

• Do you want the name to reflect what your business does - moving, cleaning, building? Or would something more abstract be suitable?
• Would it be a good idea to include your own name?
• Do you want a traditional-sounding name, conveying durability and old-fashioned values, or a modern name, suggesting a fresh, innovative approach?
• Think about the future - avoid words or phrases that are likely to date quickly.
• If you're likely to be trading overseas, check that the name doesn't mean anything inappropriate in the relevant languages
• Think about callers and customers - avoid very long names, strange wordings and unusual spelling. If you're planning to advertise in directories such as the Yellow Pages, think about using a name that appears near the beginning of the listings for your type of business
• If you're focusing on the local market for your product or service, think about using the name of the city or town in the business name
• Keep your trading name creative, but your corporate name bland. This will give you the flexibility to develop other brands and trading names in the future.

There are rules that could affect your choice of business name.