How do you pick a new business name?
‘Why Ascender?’, my best friend asked. ‘Do you mean the climbing device?’
It was a good question, but slightly odd coming from someone that has known me for 35 years and knows I'm definitely not the great outdoors type. Despite being Canadian, you won’t find me climbing a rocky mountain.
‘No’, I said. ‘I mean Ascender, as it relates to typography.’
Ascender noun
as·cend·er
The part of a lowercase letter (such as k and b which also happen to be my initials ) that rises above the main body of the letter, or the x-height
A device used for a climbing rope that slides freely in one direction and grips the rope when pulled in the opposite direction
I like both meanings.
My original thinking was that my business would help small businesses rise above the pack and break out from the crowd e.g. push above the x-axis.
Then, I learned about the climbing definition and that seemed to fit as well. I like the idea that Ascender Creative can support businesses as they grow and climb higher.
It really was that simple. I have a tendency to overthink things. I didn’t with this one. My surety made me feel like it was the right decision. I wanted a simple name that meant something to me and ideally to others. Check
I did not want my name (ie. Katherine Brown) to be the name of the company, and based on the ubiquity of my name, that was never really a possibility anyway.
Of course - there are some practicalities. I checked Companies House to see if the name was available - it is. Right now I am operating as a Sole Trader but there is the question if I should reserve the Ltd name for the future it’s available (Please, don’t take it after you read this).
Also, I knew I wanted a dot com domain. AscenderCreative was available so that supported the decision. We also purchased the co.uk and .co
And @ascendercreative was also available on Instagram and @AscenderChat on Twitter, a reminder that it is worth checking social media handles as well as domain names.
Investigating a little more into what makes a good name, the general wisdom seems to advise:
Avoid hard to spell name or odd spelling (e.g. Ascendr dropping the e as in Flickr)
Pick a name that can grow with you as business grows and expands into new areas
Say it aloud and make sure it sounds good. This is also wise advice when thinking about dog names.
Finally, here’s a fun site to test out your name. It’s called Eat My words and as they say on their homepage, ‘Your brand name shouldn’t look like someone got drunk and played Scrabble’. Have a go!
