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Key Takeaways
- Choosing a business name is a deeply personal decision that sets the tone for your brand identity and is pivotal for success.
- Embracing a name that might challenge norms or perceptions can create meaningful dialogues, community and brand remembrance.
- A business should lead with its mission and values through actions, fostering a culture of shared responsibility and human connection.
Naming your business is one of the most important — and personal — decisions you can make. It’s more than a clever language play. A name becomes your brand identity, your story’s headline and the first impression that shapes how others perceive you. This is one of the lessons I learned while opening my restaurant, Bananas, in New York City.
Regardless of industry, setting the tone for your business starts with its name, followed by its identity and pride. Sharing some of the lessons I’ve learned about how framing these values can be crucial for setting yourself up for success.
Related: 5 Tips for Building a Strong Brand Identity
Why I chose the name everyone told me not to
When I first told friends and peers the name, I was met with laughter, confusion and even discomfort. Some said it sounded unserious for a restaurant, while others said it sparked memories of hearing it as a slur. For some, “banana” was used to describe Asian Americans who are “yellow on the outside, white on the inside.”
This was precisely why I wanted to move ahead with the name.
As Asian Americans, my co-founding team and I have lived our lives in the in-between: Asian at home, American on the outside and never fully belonging to either. Naming the restaurant Bananas was about making a word that had been used to “other” us, and turning it into something defining and feeling.
And that, I realized, is the first rule of entrepreneurship: Your brand should reflect who you are, not who others expect you to be.
We didn’t choose a safe, minimalist name or something that nodded vaguely to an ingredient or location. We chose a name that carried our identity and our humor. It was a risk, but one that makes people stop, ask questions and remember us. A brand that starts conversations is already halfway to building community.
Building an identity as ethos, not a gimmick
Once we opened our doors, it became clear that the name wasn’t just a label; it was a blueprint. As another Asian-American-owned restaurant in New York City, it would have been easy to pigeonhole us into the “fusion” category, a term that often flattens nuance and boxes creativity into a trend. We were determined from the beginning to change the narrative around what “American” dining can look like, and discovered that we are the new Americans. This is reflected in a menu that showcases the messy, joyful reality of our lived experiences. Our values lie in forming our identity, belonging and ultimately, helping our customers feel as if they are actively contributing to our growing ethos as well.
In business, especially when you’re building something rooted in culture or community, the imposter syndrome or feelings of being an outsider can easily creep in. Outsider energy can become insider empathy. And that empathy, the ability to see and serve people beyond transactions, is a company’s most powerful competitive edge.
Related: How Startups Can Leverage the Power of Community to Weather Any Storm
Lead with a mission, not a manual
I’ve worked in luxury hotels in the past where you’re provided a manual during orientation outlining the hotel’s core values. Then you would sit through daily meetings, and you would be asked how you were going to fulfill at least one value that day. It was meant to instill purpose, but it always felt mechanical.
This is where I confess that Bananas does not have a written mission statement or a vision printed on the wall. It felt too corporate to enforce, so we decided to approach our mission differently and keep our priorities clear, because that’s where the real growth is sometimes hidden.
Our mission is unspoken, but visible in how we work and the standards of service we encourage. Everyone on the team, from the dishwasher to the general manager, busses tables, runs food, greets guests and washes dishes. We all step in for one another. There’s no hierarchy, only hospitality. Leading by example keeps the energy honest and highlights that shared responsibility is our culture. We lead with the sentiment that this restaurant is our collective home and that pride trickles from the top down, and even sits with everyone who dines with us.
When you emphasize human connection over transactions, every person who walks through your doors feels seen, not just sold to.
Risk, passion and a side of reality
Anyone who opens a restaurant knows it’s a risk. The margins are thin, the hours are long and the odds are stacked against you. The truth is, if I had invested in the S&P or crypto instead, I’d probably have made more money by now.
But we didn’t do this for the return, because purpose beats pure ROI every time.
That’s the paradox of entrepreneurship: The most meaningful ventures often start with irrational passion. Purpose isn’t always profitable at first, but it keeps you going long after logic would’ve told you to quit.
When you love what you do, the setbacks don’t sting as much, because they’re part of the story. You stop chasing perfection and start chasing progress. You stop asking “is this working” and start asking, “is this worth it?”
And if the answer is yes, even on the hardest days, you’re already succeeding.
Related: The Procrastination Problem in Business No One Talks About
When meaning outlasts the marketing
The name Bananas started as a joke. But over time, it’s become our North Star. It reminds us to stay grounded and find joy in the unexpected.
At its core, entrepreneurship is about the same thing: taking what once felt uncomfortable or impossible and transforming it into something deeply personal — and ideally, successful.
So if you’re thinking about what to call your business or how to define your story, start by asking not what sounds good, but what feels true. The right name, like the right mission, doesn’t just introduce you — it anchors everything you build.
Key Takeaways
- Choosing a business name is a deeply personal decision that sets the tone for your brand identity and is pivotal for success.
- Embracing a name that might challenge norms or perceptions can create meaningful dialogues, community and brand remembrance.
- A business should lead with its mission and values through actions, fostering a culture of shared responsibility and human connection.
Naming your business is one of the most important — and personal — decisions you can make. It’s more than a clever language play. A name becomes your brand identity, your story’s headline and the first impression that shapes how others perceive you. This is one of the lessons I learned while opening my restaurant, Bananas, in New York City.
Regardless of industry, setting the tone for your business starts with its name, followed by its identity and pride. Sharing some of the lessons I’ve learned about how framing these values can be crucial for setting yourself up for success.
Related: 5 Tips for Building a Strong Brand Identity
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