One of the first challenges faced when starting a business is coming up with a name that is memorable, clearly reflects what you do, and hasn’t already been taken. The authors of Secrets of Power Marketing recommend that if you have a one-person service business, you should use your own name in the company name so your customers only have to remember one thing instead of two. This is even more important with the current emphasis on personal branding.
I’m always most impressed when people incorporate their personal name into a business name in a creative way. Here are a few examples that I’ve run across:
- Daisy Wright (career coach) – The Wright Career
- Diane Howson (professional organizer) – Howson Home Organizers
- Kathy Paauw (productivity coach) – Paauwerfully Organized
- Ann Max (productivity coach) – Productive to the Max
- Katherine Taylor (wedding & special event designer/consultant) – Taylor-Made Memories
Of course, not everyone’s name is well suited for this. I don’t think I could have done anything with “Barclay” unless perhaps I’d gone into tree service or dog training, but even that might have been a stretch!
I’m sure there are hundreds more – if you know of any, please share them in the comments!
I have a friend named Rick Book. Believe it or not, he was born with that name and he is an author! Not quite a business name, but pretty neat just the same. I love Taylor-Made Memories.
When I started organizing and I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted to focus on I chose the name FayleSafe Solutions, since it could apply to pretty much everything and turned what could be a negative name into a positive one!
My organizing business actually started out as a business research & development consulting firm (which lead to finding appropriate locations to work & outfit the space for maximum productivity, etc…). I couldn’t think of anything clever with Dawn in it, so named my company “Early Light Development & Research Group.” Early Light, of course, stands for my first name, but the Development & Research Group using my initials: DRG. I know, not nearly as clever as “FayleSafe” (which I love!), but I was really pleased how it all fell into place.
Kathy, Alex, and Dawn, thanks for sharing those! Brilliant!
And Alex, I apologize for not including you on my list – probably overlooked because you don’t use that business name anymore.
Here in the UK there’s a bank called Barclays – don’t know if you could have a play with that! (You can Bank on Janet Barclay!!)
Very clever kitten! Do you think those Barclays might have a problem with that?