A few years ago, Steve Yakim wrote a really good article on the 7 Common Mistakes For Online Business Startups and it is ALL still relevant today…

How many are you guilty of?

“It is said that before we learn how to run, we must first learn how to walk. And in the process of learning how to walk, we stumble from time to time.

No big deal, though. It’s part of the learning process. Experience, as many claim, is the best teacher, and experience entails some failures here and there.

In this light, it is not uncommon to see startup Internet business ventures making some mistakes of their own.

The sad part however, is that other business people actually capitalize on these mistakes to earn some profit for themselves at the expense of the novice online entrepreneur who would just be left bewildered by so many promises that are bound to be broken.

The very first thing you need when starting a business is, a business name. Simple right? Well, not always…

This is also many times one of the most difficult steps in a startup, believe it or not.

Your name will be the very first thing your customers see. You have to pick a name that says something about you and your business that people in your target market will identify with & remember easily.

1. A good basic idea is to use your last name followed by what you do. Like Walton’s Feed and Supply or Anderson’s Plumbing. You could also add the town where you live in to the name like Anderson’s Little Rock Plumbing.

2. You can also leave out your name and simply become Little Rock Feed and Supply. This makes you sound like the first choice locally and will help target your local area.