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Sourdough Business Names: 3 Tests Before You Print
Three quick tests that keep a sourdough business name from costing you a reprint.
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What to remember
- Short and plain beats clever and hard to spell.
- Say the name on a phone call before you print it.
- Search the name, the web address, and the trademark records on the same day.
- Keep two backups written down before you commit.
Sourdough business names get said out loud more than they get read. A buyer repeats your name to a friend, types it into her phone, and looks for it at the next market. That is why the test is not whether you love the name, but whether it survives being passed along.
What a sourdough name has to do on a phone
Your buyer meets your name in a text from a friend, on a phone screen, or on a card at a market table. She gives it about a second. A name that fits on one line and survives autocorrect gets found again the next week.
The word sourdough in the name does real work. It tells a stranger what you sell before she sees a photo. It also ties you to one product, so decide now whether you plan to add cookies, granola, or sandwich loaves in the next year or two.
A name with a story is easier to remember than a name with a pun. If your starter came from your grandmother, or your street has a bakery history, that detail belongs in your sign and your posts, even if it does not fit in the name itself.
Picture a customer at your table telling the person behind her where she got the loaf. The name she says is the one that spreads. If it takes three seconds to get out, it will not spread.
Write down ten names before you judge any of them. The first three are usually the ones everyone in your town would pick. The tenth is often the one that fits.
The three tests before you print
Run every name on your shortlist through the same three checks, in one sitting. Comparing names you tested on different days is how people talk themselves into a name that fails.
Say it out loud
Call your own voicemail and leave the name as a message. If you stumble saying it, a customer will stumble too. Say it the way you would answer the phone at a market.
Spell it over the phone
Ask a friend to write the name down as you say it once, without repeating yourself. Count the letters she gets wrong. Two or more wrong letters means the name will cost you orders.
Search it in one sitting
Search the name, the web address you want, and the federal trademark records at the USPTO. Write down what you find and the date. Do the same for your second and third choice.
Do the phone test with someone who does not know your baking. Friends who have already heard you talk about the name will fill in the gaps for you without meaning to.
Write the results in one note. A name that fails one test can still win if the other two are strong, but a name that fails all three is a reprint waiting to happen.
Run the name through your numbers
Before you commit to a name, know what a loaf actually earns. A name change later means new labels, a new sign, and a new web address, and that money comes out of your margin.
For example, take one loaf. Write down what you sell it for. Subtract the flour, starter, salt, and the bag it goes in. Subtract what you pay yourself for the hours that loaf took. Then subtract your monthly costs divided by the loaves you sell. Brevl is one flat $20 a month with no cut of your sales, so at 100 loaves that overhead is 20 cents a loaf. What is left after ingredients, labor, and overhead is your margin. A thin margin is exactly why a reprint hurts.
Do this once with your own numbers and keep the page. When a name feels expensive to change, you will know whether it actually is.
Keep the costing page next to your name shortlist. Both are decisions you make once and live with for a year.
Mistakes that cost you money
Check the name before you commit
Search the name and the web address on the same day, and write down what you find. Then check your state’s business filing rules, since registration rules vary by state. The guide to starting a sourdough business walks through the first costs after the name.
Keep three names alive until the last minute. One you love, one plain and safe, and one that is easy to spell. If the first fails a search, you move to the second without starting over. More naming checks for a related product sit in sourdough home bakery names.
Write the name into a text message and look at it on your phone. Then write it on a paper bag in marker. If it looks wrong in either place, it will look wrong on a sign.
Ask two people to read the name back to you from a photo of your label. What they say is what your customers will say.
Check the web address before the sign. A name that people cannot find online costs you orders, and a hyphen or a misspelling is easy to forget between the market and the phone.
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Common questions
Should the name include the word sourdough?
Only if you plan to stay with sourdough. The word tells a new buyer what you sell in one glance, which helps at a market table. It also makes the name harder to use if you add cookies, granola, or sandwich loaves later. Decide what you will sell in two years first.
How many name ideas should I keep?
Three is enough. One you love, one that is plain and safe, and one that is easy to spell. Test all three the same way and keep the notes in one place. If the first choice fails a search, you move to the second without starting over.
Can I use my own name?
Yes, and it is often the safest choice. Your own name is easy to spell, hard to confuse with another bakery, and it carries your story. The trade off is that it does not say what you sell, so your sign and your photos have to do that work.
What if the web address is taken?
Add a word that describes your town or your style, then test the new version the same way. A name that people cannot find online costs you orders. If the plain version is gone, a short extra word is better than a misspelling or a hyphen nobody remembers.
Do I need to register the name?
That depends on your state and how you sell. Check with your state's business filing office and search the federal trademark records before you print. This guide is general information, not legal advice. A name you have not checked can cost you a reprint and a new sign.
Sources
General information, not legal or tax advice. Check your state's filing rules and run a trademark search before you commit to a name.