Business Name??

[Russel Ray]

Originally Posted by Frank Newman

with a slogan that says "Serving Dublin as well as Laurens and surrounding counties".

Why does Laurens get special recognition? Why not just "Serving Dublin and surrounding counties"?

[David Nice]

I kept mine rather generic so I can continue to expand into other types of inspections than just home inspections without having to change or add names (but I might do it in addition to the one I have at some point).

[Frank Newman]

Originally Posted by rray

Why does Laurens get special recognition? Why not just "Serving Dublin and surrounding counties"?

I'll have to think about that one. Since Dublin is in Laurens Co. (but city and county are not consolidaed), to say only 'surrounding counties' would technically exclude Laurens. Truthfully, most business is likely to come form Dublin and/or Laurens county

[Russel Ray]

So am I understanding that Dublin it the city, and the city is in Laurens County, but the city and County are not necessarily one and the same? (For example, I believe the city of San Francisco and the County of San Francisco are the same.) If that's the case, perhaps "Serving the Dublin metroplex and surrounding counties." or "Serving the greater Dublin metroplex." or "Serving A, B, C, D, and E counties." (Don't do more than five counties in that fashion, though. If you have six or more, create a bulleted list. And make sure to alphabetize any list of cities or counties to make it easy to read.

[Frank Newman]

That is correct - Laurens County is much larger (in land area but not population) than the city limits of Dublin (which is no metroplex ).

[Russel Ray]

Originally Posted by Frank Newman

That is correct - Laurens County is much larger (in land area but not population) than the city limits of Dublin (which is no metroplex ).

Well, then, since your contact information theoretically shows Dublin GA as part of your address, I would simply list the counties that you're willing to work in, in alphabetical order.

However, don't be afraid to list a couple more counties that you normally wouldn't work in. That will encourage people to call you for inspections in those counties, at which point you get to be the one making the decision as to whether or not to do the inspection in those counties. Charge a travel charge, without stating it as such; simply have higher prices for outlying counties. You might be surprised how many people will call you.

But as my wise ol' grandmother said, "Always be prepared." When I decided to offer choices, I thought there was no way in hell that I would ever sell a TECH inspection, but I prepared for doing so just in case. Surprise, surprise, surprise. For every BASIC inspection, I do, indeed, sell one TECH inspection. Up until November 2006, most of my inspections were STANDARD inspections. However, now the great supermajority of my inspections are WALK inspections for property investors, of which about 20-40 occur on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, leaving me with a three day-work week (weekends) and a four-day weekend (M-T), and increasing my gross hourly wage from around $100 an hour to $200-$400 per hour, and easily leaving me with a net six-figure annual salary.

If one is not making a six-figure annual salary, even in a slow market, then one is not doing enough marketing, one probably doesn't have a Referral Rewards Program in place, one probably hasn't diversified one's business by offering choices, one probably hasn't read The Power of P, and/or one probably is not working with property investors (who love "slow markets," also known as buyers' markets), etc.

By the way, if anyone needs the name of property investor groups in your neighborhood, email me at russel.ray@nachi.org. I've been involved in 818 property renovations in 7 states in 33 years and have a lot of resources. Plus, it looks like I might be getting back into the property renovation business with some investor Clients of mine for whom I've been doing WALK inspections.

As my wise ol' grandmother said, "In good times and bad, take 10% of your gross income and spend it on marketing." It works.

[jhugenroth]

Originally Posted by klott

Ray Crock Founded Mc Donalds

Kroc turned it into what it is today, but he is not the founder. He bought it from the McDonald brothers... so Roy is right on this one

[jhugenroth]

Originally Posted by bkelly2

As Roys Home Inspections was already taken, I settled on Dwelling Doctors.

Hey Brian, you're far enough away from Canada. I'm sure Roy wouldn't mind if you used his name.

[nwagner]

Originally Posted by Frank Newman

What's in a name? When I look at the names of the businesses represented on this site I see some that are long and complicated, others very short and still others that seem to be trying to position themselves at the top of a list.

So, more specifically, what did you consider when selecting a name for your business and why? If you were not already established, would you choose a different name now?

I sought a name that nobody else had that could effectively convey the theme of my business. I also avoided a name that could be perceived as exagerated or disingenious, such as "The Trustworthy Home Inspector" or "Thorough Home Inspections".

[Rick Maday]

Originally Posted by klott

Ray Crock Founded Mc Donalds

Actually, Ray found the McDonald brothers who had a good process for making quick burgers. Ray had a knack for selling those burgers. Ray quickly bought the brothers out and the rest is history.

[Nick Gromicko]

http://www.nachi.org/namesearch.htm

[jgroves]

Frank, if you are planning to offer more services than home inspections, let your name reflect that at the outset. You don't want to possibly change it later after you've gotten some name recognition but no one knows that you do anything other than home inspections. I chose Groves Property Services because everything after my family name could conceivably cover just about any real estate related service I may eventually offer.

[jgroves]

Originally Posted by rray

So am I understanding that Dublin it the city, and the city is in Laurens County, but the city and County are not necessarily one and the same? (For example, I believe the city of San Francisco and the County of San Francisco are the same.) If that's the case, perhaps "Serving the Dublin metroplex and surrounding counties." or "Serving the greater Dublin metroplex." or "Serving A, B, C, D, and E counties." (Don't do more than five counties in that fashion, though. If you have six or more, create a bulleted list. And make sure to alphabetize any list of cities or counties to make it easy to read.

Russel, surely you've heard of East Dublin, GA, home of the infamous Redneck Games? Its basically all one town, Dublin and East Dublin.

[Frank Newman]

Originally Posted by jgroves

Russel, surely you've heard of East Dublin, GA, home of the infamous Redneck Games? Its basically all one town, Dublin and East Dublin.

I was hoping no one would notice that little fact (but that's another thread)! Maybe I should call it "Redneck Home Inspections" (my family would disown me).

[Frank Newman]

Originally Posted by gromicko

http://www.nachi.org/namesearch.htm

That is an impressive list - is there any way to search it by name or state? I can see already that many of the names my family has sugggested (and the one I mentioned above) have already been used, although not necessarily in GA.