There was a time when having your own startup felt like a distant dream. The investment, the uncertainty, and the social stigma that came with it deterred many from pursuing the dream of owning their own company. As mentioned by the co-founder of the startup Alma Mater, Varun Agarwal in his book, there were a lot of Anu aunties to brave, in addition to convincing your own parents.
Today, the scenario is completely different. The perception of startups has changed. No longer is taking that leap of faith and jumping the safety net of a job perceived as stupidity. It is seen as courage.
With genius minds entering the ecosystem every day, India has ranked 3rd globally in the startup space. The country has witnessed a growth rate of 12-15% in terms of new company registrations every year since 2018.
Why Does Everyone Want To Start A Business?
Today, starting a company is easier than ever. All it takes is an idea. With the right idea and the right execution strategy, investors are more than willing to place their trust in today’s youth.
The student community has also evolved. The “dream” of graduating with a high-paying job is getting old. Start-ups are the new skies. GenZiers and millennials are ready to take the reigns of their lives in their own hands instead of slaving it out for employers their entire lives.
Idea Is Key
An idea is vital to the success of a start-up. You simply have to identify a need in the market or offer a solution to a problem.
The Indian startup Rotimatic successfully identified the household problem of millions of women, sweating it out in the kitchen day in and day out making rotis. They launched a machine where you could get steaming rotis at the click of a button.
The pani-puri brand Gapagap, India’s first-ever, was born out of the founder, Prashant Kulkarni’s need for hygienic pani-puri after he fell sick eating India’s favourite chaat from a roadside vendor.
BuyHatke was founded as a result of frustration with having to check at least 10 different websites before making a purchase decision, giving the consumers a shopping assistant by helping them compare product prices across websites on a single platform.
While the ideas behind these startups were brilliant, do you notice any sort of similarity or characteristic adopted by these companies? Yes, their brand names. They’re too desi, right?
The ‘desiness’ of these brands is what makes them stand apart. They’re simple and to the point. Rotimatic combines roti + automatic, indicating that there’s an automated way of making rotis. Gapagap is a term we often associate with eating, especially items like chaat. And BuyHatke straight away tells you that it’s a ‘hatke’ way of buying, meaning that it’s a unique and different approach to making your online purchases.
Other popular startups with desi names: Cleardekho, BankBazaar, CashKaro, AglaSem, PriceBaba, Vedantu, CouponDunia, MeraEvents, MyUpchar, CouponRaja.
Why Is A Brand Name So Important
Brand names are what make your customers connect with you. No matter what business you’re in, your brand name must tell people what your company is about. At the same time, it must be simple and easy to recall.
The importance of brand names for businesses cannot be ignored. They’re usually words coined especially for that particular company. And for us Indians, they can get as desi as you can imagine.
Importance Of Branding With Examples
Take the example of Amazon. Why was this brand name chosen? An existing word from the English dictionary- Jeff Bezos picked Amazon as his brand name after the Amazon River, the largest in the world, as he wanted his online store to live up to the name and be the biggest in the world.
Startup names like Dunzo and Swiggy, that are now increasingly being used as verbs, were chosen as brand names for their simplicity and ease of pronunciation.
Then there’s the desi lot, our favourites, chosen for their uniqueness and fun element, whilst conveying the business model through the brand name.
Amuleek Singh Bijral, an engineering graduate, who later pursued his masters from Harvard University, was spot on with the desiness when he founded ‘Chaipoint’. As he says, “India runs on chai.” It is only apt that a kiosk selling tea is named Chaipoint.
In addition to conveying exactly what it does, the brand name struck a chord with the millions of people for whom tea is that fuel without which the engines of their bodies fail to start in the morning.
Another example that’s discussion-worthy is Cleardekho. The name is simple, clean, and to the point. A company that caters to people’s eyewear needs, Cleardekho combines the words clear+dekho, which literally translates to see more clearly. With a desi twist to the literal meaning of what the company does, the brand name has managed to gain high recall value in this particular segment.
BankBazaar is another startup that has revolutionized the startup space. As a market place for financial products, its brand name tells you its business model exactly. It’s a ‘bazaar’ for bank related products.
Importance Of Brand name Selection
The name of your company may not be the only factor responsible for your business taking off, but it is a major factor nonetheless. You lose out half your customers from the conversion funnel if they do not know what it is that your company does. At the same time, you end up spending additional time and resources educating your customer about your business model. On the other hand, a brand name that is self-explanatory drives home the point without the extra effort.
The reason we place emphasis on ‘desi’ names is that if you can combine the ingredients of functionality along with the terms that your users can relate to the most, you’re looking at a very successful recipe.
Brand Name Generator
If you’ve made up your mind to go for your own start-up and have a great idea in mind, it’s time to find brand name ideas that will help take your business places. This is where we come in as a brand name generator. Bring in your idea and leave the rest to us. At Monday Domains, choose the title of your dream company from our pool of curated names, crafted carefully, and in line with the business model it is created for.
And if you don’t find a name you like, no problem. Tell us more about your business and we’ll give you brand name suggestions, well-suited to your company.