Whether you’ve had your salon a long time, or you’re a new business owner – the question of whether or not you should trademark your salon’s name may have crossed your mind. If you’re still on the fence about whether or not it’s worth it – Salons Direct is here to help.
We’re going to be talking about what a trademark actually is, the benefits of trademarking your salon’s name, and some potential drawbacks of doing so. Read on to find out more on trademarking your salon’s name…
What is a trademark?
From a legal standpoint, a trademark is your salon’s intellectual property, it’s how you define and represent your business to the world.
Once your salon’s name is trademarked – it’ll be how you’re perceived, and what you’re associated with. When you think of a brand, a logo or name may pop into your head. This is how you become memorable to others!
Branding can be a fun experience for you and your salon. Being able to put your personality into your business is an undeniably great feeling – and when you trademark your salon’s name, you’re completely in control of what image you get to put out into the world. Still unsure? Let’s take a closer look at some of the benefits:
Protection
When you trademark your salon, it can be seen as a form of protection. If you find yourself in a position where you have a direct competitor with the same name, and branding that is eerily similar to yours – trademarking can act as a safety blanket.
Having a trademark for your salon’s name will provide you with the legal right to dispute a competitor who you believe has copied your branding, especially if you believe this will have a negative impact on your salon.
A trademark will also provide you with protection online. This is especially important nowadays because of how much we all use the internet and social media. If someone owns the rights to a domain name that you have formally registered and trademarked – you can actually file a request to shut it down.
As an increasing number of businesses are operating online, social media platforms have set policies in place in relation to your name and trademarks.
Social platforms state that if there’s a profile that is operating under your registered trademark name, all you have to do is provide evidence of this and the account will be suspended with immediate effect. You’ll never have to worry about losing your business page name.
Customer loyalty & trust
As mentioned above, if you trademark your salon’s name, you’ll be able to operate under this name not only in the real world but in the online world also. This can be especially important in relation to building customer trust and loyalty.
If a customer can search your name and find it consistently across social media and in the real world, your salon will automatically become more validated in the eyes of the client. With recognition comes authenticity, and investing in trademarking your salon’s name could help you achieve this. Never underestimate the power of credibility.
Another bonus is that it makes you easy to find. All someone would have to do is search your name and your salon will consistently pop up. What we’re saying is that a trademark could actually be a great long-term investment.
Adds value to your salon
If you ever found yourself wanting to sell your salon, having a trademark for the name and brand in place could potentially increase the value of your business.
Essentially, your salon becomes a more tangible asset from a legal perspective. Potential buyers will see that you have established the brand of your salon, making the identity of your business more secure. In addition, a potential buyer might like the idea of having the trademark and brand already sorted for retention purposes, as getting this right takes a lot of time and effort!
Although there are clear and enticing benefits to trademarking your Salon’s name, to gain a wider perspective, it’s good to be aware of some of the potential drawbacks.
Your right to the name can be challenged
As we said earlier, once you have a legitimate trademark – you have legal rights. But what happens when you spend time, effort, and money on branding your salon to be exactly what you want it to be and then find out someone else has the same name and style as you? And has been established for longer?
Essentially, anyone has the right to dispute your entitlement to a trademark name. This can be taken further and you could find yourself in court with the potential to lose the name.
This is why it’s important to do your research before setting out to trademark your salon, as it’s important to be certain there are no salons in neighboring towns that have been established for longer.
Rebranding can be difficult
What if you want to change your salon’s name in the future?. This could be for a variety of reasons – your core clientele may have changed. The salon doesn’t necessarily represent what you want it to anymore. You’ve decided you want to appeal to a new target market and want the salon to reflect that. For whatever reason, once your reputation and salon are established under a certain name, it can be quite difficult to reverse that.
Once you’ve decided to rebrand, you also risk losing any existing brand equity that your salon has worked hard for. People can be resistant to change, so making sure you have a strategy in place, along with a plan of action, is essential if you ever decide to rebrand your salon.
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