Naming Your Business ? Here’s How I Did It.

It was official. The proverbial entrepreneurship bug had bitten me and I was starting a business. My startup would make maternity wear and specialised inner wear for women.

While I was sure of what we would do, I did not know what my company or brands should be called. I looked at some popular names to draw inspiration. In the process, I discovered some broad methodology that founders had employed for their company/brand’s nomenclature.

The ‘Random’ Approach

My personal favourite is the story of ‘Haagen Dazs’ ice creams. I must admit that for the longest time I had enjoyed their authentic Belgian Chocolate flavour with deep regard to their perceived european legacy. Until I discovered that Haagen Dazs meant nothing. It was pure gibberish. A clever american had invented this ‘danish sounding’ name.

Ha, I was got. And how !

While I would have loved to have this sort of a free-wheeling approach ,I guess I lacked the confidence to come up with something this random.

The ‘It’s a Man’s World’ Approach

Tata Sons…Warner Brothers…

Alas, my own forefathers who were an enterprising bunch 60 years ago left behind a legacy called MG Brothers.

Somehow, we daughters and sisters never figured. Being a feminist or not aside, I’m not a conformist to this approach either.

My company would be brother, sister, son and daughter agnostic.

The ‘I, Me, Myself’ Approach

And then we have the McDonalds, the PwCs, the Hershey’s approach, where the founders name was a part of the company’s name.

The sound of Deepa Maternity or Deepa Period Panties, wasn’t quite cutting it. It was plain awful. So that path was out too.

The ‘Inspired’ Approach

Reliance.. Amazon..Best Buy..

All these names evoke an emotion of promise, grandeur and greatness. These names seemed to have a greater than life vision. I liked this approach. They were inspirational.

When I looked hard at where I derive my inspiration from, I realised it was very close to home. As a matter of fact, it was from home.

Amma.My Mother. A simple woman from a small town married at the age of 16. She couldn’t complete her 10th grade exam as she was carrying my brother in her womb then. For her, education was paramount. She worked,toiled & sometimes even blackmailed us to work hard and ensured that we, her children became engineers.

Appa.My Father. An exemplary man who has taught us that honesty, hard work, dedication, ethics & humanity is above all else. A businessman who evokes respect, loyalty and even love from his team of more than 2000 people at his factory.

So, there it was.The combined names of my Amma (YASHoda) & Appa (RAMesh) became the name of my company.

YASHRAM it was.

YASHRAM it is.