Every coaching or consulting business deserves a great name! But when you’re starting out building your new business, choosing a name can be a stumbling block that holds you back from moving forward. I’m here to clear the doubt and confusion and provide you with some solid strategies for finding the perfect name. Read on!

How Do You Choose A Coaching Business Name?

When you are beginning to build your coaching business, you need to choose a name. After all, how can you begin to market yourself, create social media profiles, or build a website without a name?

But choosing a name for your coaching business can be difficult. Should you just use your name (a Personal Brand, for example, Olivia Stewart Coaching), or should you make up a name representing your business (a business name, for instance, Transformation Coaching)? How do you decide? Let’s look deeper at both of these options to figure out what’s best for you.

Personal Brand vs. Business Name

Choosing a personal brand as the name of your business is a popular option. But many new coaches I work with shy away from this option initially – it can be scary! Using your name puts the spotlight on yourself as an individual, which can feel uncomfortable or strange.

Many coaches that I work with come from corporate or business backgrounds where they are used to working under a corporate business name. For example, if you worked for Deloitte Consulting LLP and you’re now starting your own new coaching business, it can feel odd to work for “Olivia Stewart” (your name). Many coaches who consult with me want to go with a business name because it makes them feel more professional and legitimate. Instead of telling their network – I now work at Olivia Stewart Coaching, they can say, “I’m starting a new business, Transformation Coaching.” It feels safe.

Another reason new coaches want to use a business name is because it can also “hide” the fact that you’re a one-person business. Once again, when you come from a corporate background where you may have had direct reports or coworkers, working alone can seem like a step-down. Using a business name can provide the illusion that your company is bigger than it is.

But using a business name isn’t always the best choice. The two most important questions to ask yourself are:

#1 – What kind of name will bring me clients? (the lifeblood of any business)
#2 – Where do I see my business going in the future?

Let’s discuss these two questions and look at some pros and cons of using a personal brand vs. a business name for your coaching business.

Business Name Pros and Cons

Pros

• As I mentioned above, using a business name can make you feel more legitimate, giving you confidence.
• A business name can help clients quickly identify what you do or how you can help them. There are a LOT of coaches in the world! Olivia Stewart Coaching isn’t specific, but Midlife Matchmaking Coaching is. When you are just starting and have no “name recognition” for your name, having a descriptive business name can help clients find you.
• Using a business name can help you grow in the future if that’s your plan. If you want to bring on other coaches or consultants to work with you or plan to sell your business in the future, a business name works. It’s pretty hard to sell “Olivia Stewart Coaching” to someone who isn’t Olivia Stewart!

Cons

• People do business with people. So although it can be scary, using your own name is going to help you get clients, guaranteed. It’s a proven fact that using a personal brand (your name) helps you connect and make relationships with your potential clients, which is how most coaches begin their business.
• Your name might not grow with you, which is a BIG con. I see many coaches starting with a very specific name that just doesn’t work for them anymore, only a few years down the road. Your business will evolve. As you gain more clients and more experience working with clients, you will come to understand what you enjoy doing, and what you are best at. Your “Heart-Centered Transformational Healing” business may evolve into “Confidence Coaching for Executives” – I’ve seen it happen! All of a sudden, your name doesn’t make sense anymore.
• Your business name can be too generic. If you try hard to avoid the con of choosing a name that won’t grow with you (a very specific name), you can end up choosing a name that is too generic. For example, how many “Transformation Coaches” or “Heart-Centered” coaches are there? Tons. A generic term is a poor start to building a successful coaching business.

Personal Brand Pros and Cons

Pros

• Using your name for your coaching business is always going to work. Even as your business evolves, your name will always be your name, and you can turn it into any kind of business you like. I see many coaches using their name as their main brand and then developing Signature Programs with specific names for the type of coaching they offer. In this way, you can try out particular names that are subject-matter-oriented (Date Night Workshop, for example) under the umbrella of your primary business name, Olivia Stewart Coaching. Then, if you grow out of Date Night coaching, you don’t need to change your whole brand. Just retire the program, and develop a new one.
• As I mentioned above, people do business with people. Using your name brings you a level of connection and intimacy that is much harder to achieve with a business name. Coaching is a business that relies on relationships and trust more than many other businesses. They’re hiring YOU to be their coach! It’s much easier to hire Olivia Stewart, who they have grown to know and trust than it is to hire “Evolution Coaching.”
• A personal brand is essential for growing as a thought leader in your industry – and that should be your goal when you are trying to market your new coaching business. Going on podcasts, doing guest blogging or writing your own blogs, sending newsletters, getting speaking gigs, and introducing yourself at networking events are essential marketing activities for coaches, and all of these activities benefit from using your name.

Cons

• If you plan to build a large business with many employees and eventually sell your business, beginning with a business name can be the right first step. However, I would argue that you STILL need to build out a personal brand,
• People won’t immediately know what kind of coaching you offer from your name. BUT – this can be overcome by using a tagline (see below).

What is a Good Name for a Coaching Company?

As you have probably realized, I’m biased towards using your name (your personal brand) as a coaching company name. Although there can be reasons to use a business name, I believe your own name is the best name when starting out. Your name gives you the flexibility to grow, it will ALWAYS be you, and you can build other brands under the umbrella of your name.

A personal brand name for your business will help you connect and sell to new clients, and it can grow with you in the future, wherever you want to take your coaching business.

Understanding Taglines for Your Coaching Business

What is a tagline? It’s that small bit of text you sometimes see under business names that calls out a core philosophy or market that your business wants to be identified with. If you want to read a great article explaining taglines and how to choose one, you can read that here.

But from a coaching perspective, a tagline can help you position yourself within the market by helping others understand what kind of coaching you do, helping you overcome the con of using a personal brand name when you have no name recognition! Going back to our example, Olivia Stewart can have any kind of tagline associated with her brand to further explain her expertise. She might be Olivia Stewart, Financial Coach for Women, Olivia Stewart, Midlife Career Coaching, or even Olivia Stewart Coaching, Off-Grid Living Expert.

The thing about taglines is that they are much easier to change than changing your whole business name. Generally, a logo can be easily modified to include a new tagline, and your marketing materials can also be changed with more minor tweaks than what would be necessary to implement a complete re-branding project.

I don’t suggest that all coaching businesses require a tagline, though! Many of you will do just fine with your first and last name alone or your first name and last name, followed by the word “coaching’.

Understanding Your Coaching Business Name and SEO

This brings me to my next topic, your coaching business name and SEO. In its simplest terms, SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, and it’s a term that means the things you do online to help people find you when they are searching for services like yours.

You can find many articles online extolling the virtues of including a “keyword” in your business name, but I’m not sure that this wisdom holds up for coaching businesses. In the first place, as I mentioned above, your particular keyword (your subject matter expertise) may change! And secondly, it’s unlikely you will get many clients in the beginning from SEO.

That’s a hard truth – but as an online brand expert and website designer, false promises of “build a website and they will come to you” is just plain wrong. Yes, you need a website. Yes, it should be optimized for SEO. But no, just having your website will not bring you clients. You need to drive traffic to your website to do that. Coaches who are choosing a name for their business shouldn’t be swayed by trying to include keywords in their business name.

The truth is, Google will find you by the CONTENT you put on your page, not by the name of your business, especially when you are new.

Here’s a tech tip – every website page should have what’s called an H1 tag – this is the text that tells Google what that page is about. Every page on your website should have a unique H1 tag. For example, a good website designer will ensure your coaching website with your business name of Olivia Stewart Coaching will have a page with an H1 tag that describes your services (NOT just your business name), for example, Grief Doula Coaching, or Midlife Crisis Coaching for Men, or Financial Coaching for Creatives, depending on your expertise.

Using this H1 technique will help make sure your coaching business can be found for your specific expertise, not only the name of your coaching business.

How Do You Come Up With a Coaching Name?

Whichever way you decide to go (Personal Brand or Business Name), here are some tips to help you develop your perfect coaching business name.

If you’ve decided to go with a personal brand for your coaching business:

1. Consider if you want to use a tagline for your brand. Don’t get stuck on this, taglines can be changed! Choose something SHORT and SIMPLE that identifies either who you serve or a philosophy that is at the heart of your coaching. See some of the tips in the business name section below for naming your business that also apply to creating a tagline.

2. Since you already have your coaching business name (your name), go ahead and check out its availability on Namecheckr. This handy free service will quickly show you if your domain name is available (www.yourname.com) AND look at the available social media accounts associated with that name.

3. Buy your domain URL right away! I suggest Namecheap as a great reliable place to buy (avoid GoDaddy). Buy www.yourname.com and perhaps also your country code domain, for example, www.yourname.ca (for Canada) or www.yourname.au (for Australia) if you plan to do business mainly in your own country.

4. Claim all of your social media accounts as soon as possible.

If you’ve decided on a business name for your coaching business:

1. Now is the time to get creative! Don’t settle for a generic name that won’t help you connect and sell with your ideal clients. This article by Paperbell shares some great tips on brainstorming a coaching website name. Or try some online name generators for inspiration; here are a few fun ones:

• Shopify Business Name Generator – this name generator is geared towards e-commerce businesses, but it can still help you get some ideas. Just don’t buy your domain name through Shopify! Use Namecheap or another reliable domain name registration service.
• Wordoid – this name generator creates inventive unique names from specific words that you select. It’s perfect for finding that one-word made-up name like BetterUp or Coachera.
• Hipster Name Generator – Not super applicable for coaches, but hey, it’s fun! Just keep on hitting the refresh button to generate more ideas.

2. Test your name by asking people what they think – but be careful here! Asking your friends and family what they think about your name won’t give you the best results. Remember – they’re not likely the people buying your services! Instead, if possible, create a poll on LinkedIn or ask a question on your personal Facebook or Instagram feed, with some name options. Or post in any online groups or forums you may be a part of to get some feedback. Remember – if the person giving you feedback would never be the person buying your coaching, their opinion should carry less weight.

3. Go with your gut. I’m a firm believer in trusting your inner knowledge, and if you’re a coach, I think you understand this as well. In the end, choose a name that makes you feel confident and happy! Ultimately your coaching business name is only one part of your business branding, and things like key messaging, design, brand colours and marketing strategies all carry equal weight. So don’t let the choice slow you down; decide on a name and move on.

4. Once you’ve decided (or even better, during the process of determining), check out your name on Namecheckr. It will show you if your domain name is available (www.businessname.com), AND you will see the available social media accounts associated with that name. Don’t get caught in the trap of falling in love with a name that isn’t available! Keep it flexible until you know you can own that name and domain.

5. Once you’ve made a final decision, buy your main domain URL (your www.businessname.com), maybe your country code domain, and also purchase your given name URL (for example, www.oliviastewart.com). Why buy your given name in addition to your business name? You never know what the future may bring, and securing your own name is like a security blanket for the future. You don’t want anyone else to own that precious piece of online real estate! As your company grows down the road, you may choose to build out your personal brand for other projects or use it to enhance your business name.

6. Don’t forget to claim all of your social media accounts as well!

Rebranding Your Coaching Business

What if you’ve been working under a coaching business name, but it doesn’t fit anymore? (A common problem). Maybe it’s time for a rebrand. Many coaches begin with a business name but switch over to a personal brand name over time. Or, you might want to create a business offshoot from your personal brand and build a business brand.

Whatever your motivation, It’s a good idea to go through a positioning workshop, to make sure your new brand takes you where you want to go. Positioning is crucial for coaches and consultants to stand out from the noise and create a platform where they are heard and valued. It is the critical cornerstone building block that all of your marketing and business initiatives should lead from, including your new business coaching name.

Summing It Up

Choosing a name for your coaching business is essential to building your online brand and getting your first clients! But don’t let choosing a name slow you down; in the end, and I hate to say it, your coaching business name is not the thing that will make or break your business.

The name of your coaching business is only one tool in your coach marketing toolbox, and even bad names can be overcome with great branding! Ultimately, your coaching business name should help you to feel confident so that you can step out into the world and connect with the people who need your services.

If you need help choosing a coaching business name, buying a domain name, setting up your website and social media profiles, creating a logo, and generally getting your coaching business off to a great start, I’m here for you!

Book a call with me here, and let’s talk about your exciting new coaching business and how we can share your important work with the world.