How can I choose a name for my new webapp?

Discussions
#1

Hello,

After my last failure (a webapp for managing associations of hunters), I’m working on a new project: a web application to help magazine & comic collectors (like me! :smile: ) to organize his collection.

I’ve already built a MVP, and I’m testing (locally) with my magazines, finding bugs and, mainly, UX issues. So, I’ve already choosed a technology stack, infrastructure, etc, but I’m still missing something: a name. I’m thinking about names since I started developing this idea, without luck. All the names I imagine are already taken, and I’m worried because I want to start evaluating/promoting the app (there is still a lot of work to do to have a beta MVP), but without a name I can’t do anything… :frowning:

How can I choose a name for this app? How do you choose a name for your business?

Thank you for your help!

Marc

2 Likes
#2

Try this maybe, it checks the domain availability automatically:

#3

I’m skeptical. Do comic collectors perceive this as a high-value problem/solution, and do they have much money to spend? How much would you charge for something like this?

#4

The truth is that comic collectors aren’t my main target. I’m targeting this application to magazine collectors, but the software can, at the same time, can be used to organize comics or books.

About the price, I’m thinking in something like $10-$15/month. But, as you can understand, first I need to promote it to see if there are enough interested people, or if it will be an app only for me.

#5

As someone who spent 5 years trying to sell a $30/mo product (that also had a couple higher tiers) and never making more than ~$450/mo, I would strongly caution you against building something that’s only $10-$15/month.

If you sell something that’s that inexpensive it takes a lot of volume to get to a meaningful income. You’d have to have 100 customers before you’re even making $1,000 to $1,500 a month.

#6

So you think that I should, at least at the beginning, start with a higher price?

#7

No, what I mean is that it’s usually a losing proposition for bootstrappers to try to sell to consumers because consumers buy on price (“if the price is low enough, I’ll pay for it out of my limited spending money”) whereas businesses buy on value (“if it gains me $100K/year I’ll pay $10K/year for it because that’s a clear net win”).

The vast majority of the examples of successfully boostrapped businesses I’ve encountered have been B2B products, not B2C.

My suggestion would be not to move forward with this particular idea.

If I could go back to 2008 and give myself some advice, that would be one of the main things I would tell myself - sell to businesses, not individuals. I would also tell myself, emphatically, don’t start with SaaS.

2 Likes
#8

Unfortunately seem to be the right advice.

#9

But the problem is the B2C or the SaaS? Because if the problem is B2C, I can’t agree with you. We all know examples of B2C software successful, like Patrick McKenzie’s Bingo Card Creator, or Andy Brice’s PerfectTable Plan, or my inspiration: Collectorz.com (an organizer for Comic, Videogames, Books and Films).

Or the problem is that all this software is “old” (more than 10 years old, AFAIR), and this is the reason they still works?

Anyway, don’t take this comment as an attack. I really appreciate all these messages and information, it’s just that I’m slowly processing it… :stuck_out_tongue:

#10

The point isn’t that B2C can’t ever work. It’s that between B2C and B2B, B2C is much harder.

But again, if I were to talk to my 2008 self, my advice wouldn’t be “go B2B”, it would be, “start with an info product, not SaaS”.

#11

The problem is both. Making a B2C SaaS is harder than making a B2C one-time payment product which is supposedly harder than making one-time payment B2B product. (I don’t know where B2B SaaS is in this list).

All three are one-time payment B2C. It is relatively easy to persuade a consumer to pay once. To make them pay monthly, and do not cancel within a few months is only possible if you solve a real burning pain.

And organizing a collection is not really a pain, it is an inconvenience.

Maybe if you make not just a collection, but a marketplace, where these collectors weirdos can trade and sell their stuff…

#12

(That phrase was spoken in Amy Hoy voice, I assume.)

Really, if I see yet another infoproduct, I’m going to throw up. That advice was all good at the time, but IMHO it outlived itself.

What infoproduct can be done in the collecting space, eh? How to get laid, probably.

On the other hand, there should be a niche for a small 1 month software product that can help those said collectors doing I dunno what, photo their collections with automatic colliding and comments? Something like this.

#13

I agree with what @rfctr said about it being easier to make a one-time sale than to get somebody to pay you something every month.

These comments, however, seem to be based on a misinterpretation of what “info product” means. A regular old cookbook or a DVD on how to play piano would be an info product. There’s no rule saying it has to be a certain format or be sleazy. And info products will stop working as a business idea when people stop wanting to buy books, videos, courses, etc., which I would predict is never.

#14

Yes, sorry, the number of useless infoproducts got the best of me.

My point was that if the end goal is to have a SaaS, then a small software product would provide a better learning experience.

#15

:slight_smile:

I agree. In my experience selling a tiny info product is even easier.

As an extreme example, it could just be a 10-page “guide” for $5.

#16

To help with the original question: A good strategy I’ve used multiple times is to use two common English words together, for which the .com domain is available.

Pros: easy to spell, easy for listeners to understand, the name might suggest what the product does or who it is for.

For example: “collector” plus “ace” gives “collectorace.com” which, as I write, is available.

2 Likes
#17

I like what @SteveMcLeod suggested.

Building on that, I like using a thesaurus and reverse dictionaries to come up with relevant words. In addition, I like using Google’s keyword planner to try and find good relevant keywords.

Finally, google the name to see what comes up before you commit to something.

#18

Thank you all for your responses!

At this moment I’ve frozen the project, and I’m rethinking it. Currently I’m not sure if I’ll continue with it, delete it or redesign it… :stuck_out_tongue:

Anyway, thank you for all your help! :slight_smile:

#19

A few resources we used when picking our name:


It’s really hard. Trial and error after that. :slight_smile:

#20

Just an idea: maybe you should think about what terms users will be searching for to find you on Google. If you look at this article: (sorry I’m new and I can’t put links in posts :disappointed_relieved:) indiehackers dot com/round-table/how-did-you-find-your-earliest-users and look at the “Repost” entry, there’s a guy who’s running a Soundcloud business and named it Repost so people would find it when they search for “Soundcloud Repost”. He says this has driven a good portion of their traffic.