Business Name??

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 registered four different names before I settled on the one I have now .
I was asked to give a talk on names and agree with you some are too hard to remember.
Just look at most large companies most all have short simple names to easy to remember them.
Auto companies ,Pizza, Fast food, Grocery stores Department stores and gas companies,tires.
Roys Home Inspection ltd.
Every one knows my name .

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

IMO…With today’s technology and almost everyone owning a computer, most home Buyer’s/Sellers will be looking for a home inspector by way of computer.

Your HI company name needs to be associated (in some way) with the keywords that someone will be entering when seeking a Home Inspector.

So in your situation, you’d want to use the words Dublin or Georgia, somewhere in your company name.

Example…Enter “Massachusetts Home Inspector” or “Massachusetts Home Inspection” or even “Massachusetts Home Inspections” in the Google search engine and see my position.

Exactly what I was trying to say very short and easy to remember and catchy too.

I get a large % of my inspections from referral and an easy name to remember helps me.

… Cookie

TWBM HO A.

My current names are
“Russel Ray, Property Consultant”
“Russel Ray, Marketing Consultant” (yep, I’m getting back into marketing)
“Russel Ray, Business Consultant”

My previous names were
Buyer Peace of Mind
The HomeTeam Inspection Service

Regardless of your name, though, make your web site name short and sweet. I saw a truck a couple of days ago that had something like this:

joanandrobertsprofessionaldoorandwindowinstallationservicellc.com

No! No, no, no!

What about…

professionalnachicertifiedhomeinspectorfromdublingeorgiawhowilltrytolocateeverydefectllc.com

Hmmmm - I think I’ll pass on that one.:mrgreen:

Google search did not find a single home inspection
company called Franks Home Inspection.

Your search - FranksHomeInspection.com - did not match any documents.
This looks like it is open too . I wonder ???
For not much money you can have this web site.

… Cookie

I have always been told to stay away from putting you own name in the company name.

Long before I actually registered my name, I knew that I didn’t want to be too focused on any one niche, i.e. home inspections.
My thoughts were, that I’d do commercial inspections, warranty work, field service inspections, insurance survey reporting services. etc…
So…
I chose something I’ve heard many times "Rest Assured, … "
so I registered my name as Rest Assured Inspection Services, LLC.
I still like it myself, and have gotten comments that others think its interesting also…

Take some time to think up something that will last for the long haul…

Sorry I disagree, Charlie Goodyear looks like he started a good company Goodtear tires ,about Colonel Saunders Chicken is still around .Wendies restaurant , Smitty’s pancakes Johnson,and Evinrude out boards.Tim Hortons Wendies,Mac Donald’s. I would love to have bought a few hundred shares in any one of them.
What is the name of your favorite place to get your car fixed, Who makes the best pizza you ever had, Where do you get you clothes cleaned ,
http://scoop.kuro5hin.org/
Henry Ford and of Course The Trump towers seem to be well known.
Just to name a few .
… Cookie

Who told you that? And did they explain why they told you that?

It used to be that almost all companies told what they did, such as International Business Machines (IBM), American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T), Burger King (burgers). But if one has enough money for marketing, one can definitely brand one’s product in the public psyche, such as Kleenex and Xerox. Of course, then there are the high-profile names, such as Ford, Chrysler, Buick, Packard, etc. So I’m not sure I can agree with that.

However, I definitely recommend not using just your name unless you have the budget of Ford so that you can brand it. If one simply must have one’s name in the company name, then at least tell what you do. For example, I currently have three companies with my name in them:

Russel Ray, Property Consultant
Russel Ray, Marketing Consultant
Russel Ray, Business Consultant

They do different things for different people having different goals and needs, but there’s no doubt what they do. So if I am going to work in home inspections, instead of Russel Ray, I might do Ray Home Inspections, or Russel Ray Inspection Service, etc.

Besides, in today’s world, it’s pretty cool to do a Google and have one’s name pop up all over the place. :smiley: Of course, that also means that it is more difficult to hide :frowning: from old college roommates that one never really liked anyway, which is why they were a one-semester roommate.

The colonel named his Kentucky Fried Chicken, Wendies was Dave’s daughter, Ray Crock Founded Mc Donalds and the tire company is not Charlie’s Tires, but I see your point Roy. If you had named yours Cookes Inspectiuon, you would have been limited to inspecting Kitchens. :wink: P.S. I drive a Henry F 150 :wink:

That is certainly a possibility, although my wife woud insist on having an apostrophe in the name - as in “Frank’s Home Inspection”.

Here’s another my family came up with this weekend. Since we live in Dublin, GA, and have a local St. Patrick’s Festival celebration every year, the suggestions is…
“Emerald City Home Inspections”
with a slogan that says “Serving Dublin as well as Laurens and surrounding counties”. Something like that could be important since I live in a fairly rural area so will probably have to cover a fairly large circle.

Opinions?

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

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).

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

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.

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