Since the day you decided to start a chiropractic practice, you’ve probably been thinking about a name for your practice and you might have been working on a logo to represent this name.

Selecting a practice name is an important decision; your name is the visible image of your Unique Selling Proposition and your mission. Make sure your name presents the proper persona for your business.

Here are some considerations in selecting a practice name:

• Your practice name should communicate and support your USP and practice mission

• It should be easy to remember, friendly, easy to find in the phone book (Some advisors tell you to make sure it begins with “A”!)

• The name should be descriptive (“based on your USP) or analogous “(with meaningful connotations, like “Apple Computers”)

• It should be suitable for future circumstances, such as joining with others

• It should be easily distinguishable from competitors. We know of one town in which there were two chiropractors who had almost exactly the same last name, and both used their names for their practices. One sued the other, and won.

• Your name should look good on a sign or in the Yellow Pages.

• It should not create false assumptions. “Pain-free Chiropractic,” for example, might lead to unreasonable expectations.

• It should not have any negative connotations to foreign-speaking people in your area. A few years ago, for example, Chevrolet tried to market its “Nova” car in Latin America, and found that “Nova” means “no go” in Spanish.

• Your name should look good on a sign and should fit well with your practice logo.

• It should have powerful visual connotations in your audiences and it should create a sense of excitement and interest.

• Your practice name can certainly be your own name as long as it conforms to the suggestions above.

When you have selected a practice name, before you begin to use it you will need to check to see that no one else is using it. Here’s how to do that:

1. Check state business records. Business names are usually recorded by the office of the Secretary of State; most U.S. states have online searches of business names.

2. Go to the U.S. Patent and Trademark office (www.uspto.gov) and see if there is currently a record that anyone else is using that name. Depending on where you will practice, you might still be able to use the name, but you might want to check with an attorney first.

3. If you have a great name and/or logo, consider hiring an attorney to apply for a trademark to prevent others from using yours. The cost may be about $500 for this service, and it will take several months.

Here are a few additional considerations when deciding on a practice logo:

• Your logo should support and reflect your USP — a sports practice should have an active-looking logo; a pediatric practice should have a “kid friendly” logo.

• Colors for your logo also reflect your style. Do you want warm colors (reds, yellows) or cool colors (blues, greens)? A pediatric practice, for example, might have bold primary colors.

If you have a general idea about your logo, take it to a graphic artist and ask to see variations. Show the variations to many people and ask, “What does this say to you?” You’d be surprised what others will see in a logo that you might have missed.

Make your practice name and logo decisions carefully. They cannot be easily reversed.

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