Naming, Logo & Brand Identity Workshop

Today You Build Something Real

For four days you have been thinking, researching, and validating. Your idea is now proven — you know the problem is real and people will pay. But right now, your business has no name, no face, and no identity. If someone asked you 'what is your business called?', you could not answer. That changes today.

Today is a build day, not a theory day. By the end of this class, you will have three concrete things: a business name, a logo, and a brand identity that defines what your business stands for. These are not abstract exercises — they are the first real assets of your business, the things customers will see and remember.

Why does this matter now, and not later? Because a validated idea that stays nameless stays invisible. You cannot register a business without a name. You cannot build a website without a name. You cannot tell customers about your business without a name and a logo they recognise. Naming and branding are not decoration added at the end — they are the foundation everything else is built on. The businesses that feel real and trustworthy to you — Paystack, Flutterwave, Chowdeck — all started with a name and a logo long before they had a finished product.

Today you will use AI to do in hours what used to take weeks and cost thousands: generate a name, design a logo, and write a brand identity. Bring your validated idea from Day 4, because everything you build today is built on top of it.

Real-world examples:

Naming Your Business

Your business name is the first thing every customer, partner, and investor will hear. It appears on your website, your social media, your bank account, and your CAC registration. Getting it right early saves you the pain and cost of renaming later — and renaming a business is expensive, confusing, and loses the trust you have built.

A great business name is not about being clever or poetic. It is about being memorable, easy to say, easy to spell, and available to use. The best names are short, sound good when spoken aloud, and do not tie you to one product (so you can grow later). In this section, you will learn how to generate strong names and — just as importantly — how to check that the name is actually yours to use.

You will use AI to generate dozens of name options in minutes, then filter them using a simple checklist. Do not fall in love with the first name you think of — generate many, test them, and choose with your head, not just your heart.

A strong name is easy to spell from pronunciation alone. If someone hears your name on a phone call, they should be able to type it into a browser and find you without having to ask 'how do you spell that?' Take 'Regonet' — R-E for 're', G-O for 'go', N-E-T for 'net'. There is only one way to spell that, so a listener can type it correctly the first time. Now imagine 'Realgonet' — the person hearing it does not know whether 'real' is R-E-A-L, R-I-L, or R-Y-L. The moment there is more than one way to spell your name from how it sounds, you lose customers who simply cannot find you. Avoid strange spellings, unnecessary numbers, and hyphens.

A strong name is easy to pronounce, and that usually means keeping it short. Aim for one to three syllables — one or two is even better. Anything above three syllables becomes hard to say quickly, and people will start shortening it, mispronouncing it, or avoiding it altogether. 'Paystack' is two syllables. 'Chowdeck' is two. 'Apple' is two. When a name rolls off the tongue, people say it, share it, and remember it.

A strong name is easy to remember, and that comes down to two things: how many syllables it has, and how close it is to something people already know. The most memorable names are built from words or ideas that are already familiar. 'Apple' is literally the fruit everyone knows. 'Google' sounds like a word you have heard before. 'Facebook' is simply 'face' plus 'book' — two of the most common words in the language. 'Microsoft' is 'micro' plus 'soft'. 'SpaceX' is 'space' plus 'X'. Each one is made of pieces a customer already has in their head, so it takes almost no effort to remember. A name built from common, familiar pieces will always beat a clever name no one can place.

A strong name is distinctive — it does not sound like five other businesses in your space. If your name is too similar to an existing brand, customers will confuse you with the competitor, and you may face legal trouble. Search the name on Google and social media before you commit to it.

A strong name leaves room to grow. If you name your business 'Lagos Car Reports', you can never expand to Abuja or to other services without the name feeling wrong. A name that is slightly more abstract — like 'VerifyRide' — lets you grow without rebranding.

Apple — a common word

Google — sounds familiar

Microsoft — micro + soft

SpaceX — space + X

AI is the fastest way to generate a large list of name options for your validated idea. Instead of sitting for hours brainstorming, you can ask an AI to produce 30 or 50 name ideas in seconds, then filter them yourself. The key is writing a good prompt that tells the AI exactly what your business does and what kind of name you want.

Use a prompt like this: 'I am building a business that [describe your solution and customer from Day 4]. Generate 30 short, memorable business name ideas. They should be easy to spell, one or two words, not already used by a major brand, and leave room to grow. Give a mix of real words, made-up words, and combinations.'

Once you have the list, do not pick immediately. Read every name aloud. Type each one. Imagine it on a logo and on a website. Cross out any that are hard to say, hard to spell, too long, or too similar to an existing brand. Keep your top five, then move to the availability check below.

A name is only yours if it is available. Before you commit, check four things: the domain name (the .com or .com.ng website), the social media handles (Instagram, Twitter/X, Facebook, TikTok), the CAC name search (for Nigerian business registration), and a Google search to make sure no one else is using it prominently.

For domains, use a registrar like Namecheap or Whogohost to search — if your exact name is taken, try adding a word (like 'get' or 'try') or using a .com.ng domain. For social media, check each platform directly. For CAC, you can do a preliminary name search on the CAC portal or through an agent.

Do not skip this step. Many founders fall in love with a name, build a logo and a website, and only then discover the domain is taken or the name is already registered by another business. Check availability for your top five names, and choose the one that is free across all four checks.

Creating Your Logo With AI

Your logo is the face of your business. It appears on your website, your social media profile, your WhatsApp business card, and eventually your product. A good logo makes your business look real and trustworthy from day one — even before you have a finished product. Customers judge credibility instantly, and a clean logo signals 'this is a serious business' before they read a single word.

In the past, getting a logo meant hiring a designer and paying tens of thousands of naira, with rounds of revisions that took weeks. Today, AI image tools can generate professional logo concepts in minutes, and you can refine them yourself for free. You will leave this class with a logo you can actually use.

The goal today is not a perfect, final logo — that may come later with a professional designer. The goal is a clean, usable logo that makes your business real right now, so you can start building everything else with a brand identity in place.

A good logo starts from something common and then adds a unique variation of that common thing. People remember what they already recognise, so the strongest logos are built on a familiar object or shape with one small twist that makes it yours. Apple's logo is an apple — with a bite taken out. Google's logo is simply the word 'Google' in colour. Facebook's logo is a square box with the letter 'F' inside it — a square is common, the letter F is common, and together they are instantly recognisable. Start with something people already know, add one unique variation, and keep it simple enough to remember at a glance.

A good logo is simple. The most recognisable logos in the world — Nike's swoosh, Apple's apple, Paystack's mark — are simple shapes that are easy to recognise and reproduce at any size. Complexity is the enemy of a good logo; a logo with too many details becomes a blur when it is small on a phone screen.

A good logo works in one color. If your logo only looks good in full color, it will fail when it is printed in black and white, used as a favicon, or shown on a dark background. The strongest logos can be drawn in a single color and still be recognisable. Test your logo by viewing it in black and white.

A good logo is relevant to your business without being too literal. A car verification business does not need a literal car in the logo — an abstract mark suggesting trust or a checkmark can be more powerful. The logo should feel right for your industry and your brand personality, but it does not need to draw a picture of what you sell.

A good logo is scalable — it looks good as a tiny social media icon and as a large sign. Avoid thin lines that disappear when small, and avoid text that is too small to read. If your logo includes your business name, the text must be legible at every size.

Apple — simple, one color

Airbnb — one symbol, scalable

Paystack — clean mark

Use an AI image tool (like the image generator in this platform, ChatGPT's image tool, or similar) to create logo concepts. The secret is a detailed prompt — vague prompts produce generic logos. A good logo prompt specifies the business, the style, the simplicity, and the format.

Use a prompt like this: 'A minimalist logo for a business called [your name] that [describe what it does]. Clean, modern, simple, flat design, no gradients, works in one color, professional, suitable for a tech startup. The logo should convey [trust/speed/quality — pick one]. White background. No text or just the name in a clean sans-serif font.'

Generate several versions — at least four to six concepts. Do not accept the first one. Compare them side by side, and pick the one that is simplest, most memorable, and most relevant. If none are good enough, refine your prompt and generate more. You can also generate a logo mark (the symbol) separately from the wordmark (the text), and combine them.

Once you have a logo you like, save it in the right formats. You need at least two versions: a full color version on a transparent background (for use on websites and social media), and a one-color version (for stamps, documents, and dark backgrounds). Save them as PNG files with transparent backgrounds.

If your AI-generated logo has a complex background you want removed, use a free background-removal tool to make it transparent. Keep the original high-resolution version — you can always shrink a large logo, but you cannot enlarge a small one without it becoming blurry.

Create a simple brand file for yourself: save your logo, your business name, and your brand colors (the main colors in your logo) in one folder. You will need these every time you create something for your business — a website, a social post, a business card, a WhatsApp profile picture. Having them ready saves you hours later.

Brand Identity

Your name and logo make your business visible. But what makes customers trust you? That is your brand identity — the personality and voice your business presents to the world. A business with a name and logo but no identity feels empty; a business with a clear identity feels real, trustworthy, and worth buying from.

Brand identity is not a vague marketing concept. It is the answer to specific, practical questions: What does your business stand for? What tone do you speak in — formal or friendly? Why should a customer trust you over a competitor? When you can answer these clearly, every piece of content, every website word, and every social media post becomes easy to write, because they all come from the same identity.

Today you will define your brand identity in a single document. This is not a polished brand guideline — that comes later. This is a clear enough identity that you can introduce your business confidently to anyone, and enough structure that your website (which you build later this week) has a voice and personality to draw from.

Your brand personality is the human character your business presents. Is it serious and professional, or warm and friendly? Is it bold and energetic, or calm and reassuring? The businesses you love all have a clear personality — you can feel it in how they write and speak. Yours should be just as clear.

Choose three words that describe your brand personality — for example: 'trustworthy, clear, and practical' or 'bold, fast, and fun.' These three words become the filter for every word your business writes. When you write a website, a social post, or a WhatsApp message, ask: does this sound like a [trustworthy, clear, practical] business? If not, rewrite it.

Your tone of voice follows from your personality. A friendly brand speaks like a helpful friend — short sentences, simple words, warmth. A professional brand speaks with precision and authority. Decide your tone now, because inconsistent tone — friendly on Instagram but cold on your website — confuses customers and weakens trust. Consistency is what makes a brand feel real.

A tagline is a short, memorable phrase that captures what your business does and why it matters. It sits under your logo and appears wherever your brand does. A great tagline makes your value clear in seconds — 'Just Do It', 'The quickest way to send and receive money', 'Verify any car before you buy.'

Write your tagline using AI. Use a prompt like: 'Write 15 short taglines (3-6 words each) for a business called [name] that [describe solution]. The taglines should convey [trust/speed/quality], be memorable, and make the value clear instantly. Avoid generic phrases like quality service or best in class.' Pick the one that is clearest and most memorable, and test it by saying it aloud with your name.

Alongside your tagline, write a one-line pitch — a single sentence that explains what your business does, for whom, and why it is different. This is what you say when someone asks 'what does your business do?' at a party, in a WhatsApp message, or in a DM. 'We help Lagos car buyers verify any used car's true condition before they pay, with video inspections and history reports, in 24 hours.' Keep it specific — vague pitches are forgotten instantly.

Securing Your Business Name (Accounts & Registration)

Now that you have a name, a logo, and an identity, the next practical step is securing that name across the platforms where your business will live. This is not theory — these are accounts you will actually create today or this week. Each one takes only minutes, and together they make your business officially real and findable online.

The minimum foundation every online business needs: a domain name (your website address), social media accounts (where customers find you), and a CAC registration (so your business name is legally yours and you can open a business bank account). You do not need all of these perfect today, but you should start all of them this week, because each one is first-come-first-served.

Below is what to set up, in order of priority. Do the first two today if you can; the third this week. The businesses that look established and trustworthy all completed these early — you can tell a business that has not, because its social handles are inconsistent, its domain is missing, and it has no legal registration.

Common Mistakes When Naming and Branding

Even with AI making it fast and cheap, founders make predictable mistakes when naming and branding their business. These mistakes seem small at the time but become expensive and hard to fix later — once customers know your name and your logo, changing them means starting your brand recognition from zero.

Recognise these mistakes now, and the name, logo, and identity you build today will serve your business for years instead of needing to be undone next month.

What You Leave Today With

This is a build day, which means you should finish it with tangible assets, not just notes. Before you close today's class, make sure you have completed every item below. If any are missing, go back and finish them — these are the foundation your website, marketing, and payment setup will all be built on in the coming days.

If you complete all of these, you have done more in one day than many founders do in their first month. A validated idea with a name, a logo, a brand identity, and secured accounts is no longer just an idea — it is the beginnings of a real business. Bring all of this to the next class, where you will turn it into a full business model.

1. A chosen business name that is short, easy to spell, distinctive, and available across domain and social media.

2. A logo — generated with AI, saved as a PNG with a transparent background, working in one color, and simple enough to read at small sizes.

3. A brand identity document with: three personality words, your tone of voice, and your one-line pitch.

4. A tagline of 3-6 words that captures your value and sits under your logo.

5. Your domain purchased (or at least identified and ready to buy this week).

6. Your social media handles claimed on at least Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp Business.

7. Your CAC registration started (or an agent identified to handle it this week).

If you can tick all seven, your business is now named, branded, and officially real. Tomorrow, you build the full business model on top of this foundation.

Practical — Name, Logo & Brand Your Business Today

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