Electrical company looking to change name

[greenshaw]

Hi all,

Company is in its 4th year of trading and I'm still not happy with our business name. Looking for something fresh and unique, I seem to have a complete mind blank when trying to think of names. Just don't think 'My Name Electrical Ltd' will work, it's very small scale don't you think?

Does anyone have any suggestions or is there a company that specifically helps with this?

Many thanks, Owen

 

[Gecko001]

You have to be aware that even if you did get a name you liked from someone here (for free) you might get a bill at some time in the future if you really Improved your profits as a result of the name change. I would just get family to make suggestions and pick one you like. Branding companies charge a lot for this sort of thing, but will not have any claim on your future success if you ensure that that is covered in the terms and conditions of your contract with them.

 

[SteveJG]

If you've been trading for 4 years surely its better to stick with it as everyone knows it, changing it you will be starting again?

 

[The Byre]

Two guys - one called Hewlett and the other called Packard, started an electrical company in a shed. They could have called it Global Electrics Metropolitan or some other high-sounding rubbish and get laughed at in the process.

But they called it Hewlett Packard.

Charles Dyson called his company Dyson.

Joseph Cyril Bamford called his company that built farm trailers JCB.

When John Deere opened a blacksmith's shop in 1837, making the World's first steel ploughs, he called it John Deere.

If you were to launch a car company, you could name it Ford because that happens to be your name, or you could give it a fancy name like 'British Leyland Motor Corporation'. One of those was successful - one was not!

 

[greenshaw]

If you've been trading for 4 years surely its better to stick with it as everyone knows it, changing it you will be starting again?

Hi Steve, our business direction has changed in the last year and the current name is limiting us to a certain geographical area

 

[greenshaw]

Two guys - one called Hewlett and the other called Packard, started an electrical company in a shed. They could have called it Global Electrics Metropolitan or some other high-sounding rubbish and get laughed at in the process.

But they called it Hewlett Packard.

Charles Dyson called his company Dyson.

Joseph Cyril Bamford called his company that built farm trailers JCB.

When John Deere opened a blacksmith's shop in 1837, making the World's first steel ploughs, he called it John Deere.

If you were to launch a car company, you could name it Ford because that happens to be your name, or you could give it a fancy name like 'British Leyland Motor Corporation'. One of those was successful - one was not!

Thanks for the inspiration, great food for thought

 

[Scalloway]

There is a downside to using your own name

Elizabeth Emanuel, designer of Princess Diana's wedding dress.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12269667

"I had massive problems. I lost my brand, my label, even the use of my own name," she says.

 

[Gecko001]

Hi Steve, our business direction has changed in the last year and the current name is limiting us to a certain geographical area

I did not get it. Do KFC only operate in Kentucky or is the Halifax have branches only in Yorkshire?

 

[SteveJG]

A name is a name, would of thought how you market it and company image would be more important. Take a look at the top 50 electrical contractors list and you will see the name doesn't restrict how well a company does

 

[greenshaw]

I did not get it. Do KFC only operate in Kentucky or is the Halifax have branches only in Yorkshire?

We are a small service company, that doesn't have the marketing budget of the above. A service business is more geographic, you wouldn't phone Yorkshire Electrical if you was based in London would you?

 

[Gecko001]

We are a small service company, that doesn't have the marketing budget of the above. A service business is more geographic, you wouldn't phone Yorkshire Electrical if you was based in London would you?

Having lived in London at one time, actually I probably would ring a firm called Yorkshire Electrical. I would reckon that I would get a good service at the right price just going by the name alone!

But joking aside, the notion that you have to have a fancy name to be credible is treating customers as idiots in my view. Any more advice, from me, you will have to pay for I am afraid.

 

[The Byre]

This was Saturday Night Live's take on how to name a product -

Jam Hawkers

Written by: Michael O'Donoghue

.....Jane Curtin
.....Chevy Chase
.....Dan Aykroyd
.....John Belushi
.....Garrett Morris

The scene is an ad agency and they are brain-storming for a new name for a jam.

Jane Curtin: . . . And so, with a name like Fluckers, it’s got to be good

Chevy Chase: Hey, hold on a second, I have a jam here called Nose Hair. Now with a name like Nose Hair, you can imagine how good it must be. MMM MMM!!

Dan Aykroyd: Hold it a minute folks, but are you familiar with a jam called Death Camp? That’s Death Camp! Just look for the barbed wire on the label. With a name like Death Camp it must be so good it’s incredible! Just amazingly good jam!

John Belushi: Wait a minute . . . Dog Vomit, Monkey Pus. We offer you a choice of two of the most repulsive brand names of jams you’ve ever heard of. With names like these, this stuff has got to be terrific. We’re talking fabulous jam here!

Chevy Chase: Save your breath fella! Here’s a new jam we’ve just put out. It’s called Painful Rectal Itch. You’d have to go a long way to find a worse name for a jam. And good? MMM WAH! With a name like Painful Rectal Itch you gotta bet that it’s great . . .

Dan Aykroyd: Mangled Baby Ducks. That’s right, Mangled Baby Ducks! Picture a jam so good that you’d dare to call it Mangled Baby Ducks! Great Jam! It’s beautiful jam!

John Belushi: Wait a minute, wait a minute, this is it - 10,000 Nuns and Orphans.

Jane Curtin: 10,000 Nuns and Orphans? What’s so bad about that?

John Belushi: They were all eaten by rats! Oh, it’s so good! MMM!

Garrett Morris: Hold it, hold it everyone, your attention please, I have here a jam called, Oh God, [mumbles] Ick! Yecch!

Dan Aykroyd: It’s so good it’s sick making!

Chevy Chase: Oh, that’s gotta be great jam!

Jane Curtin: So if it’s great jam you’re after, try this one, the brand so disgusting you can’t say it on television. Ask for it by name!

 

[KatiePrice123]

I think it depends on your target market. If you tend to work for local people/firms then using your own name must be plus point. It makes it more personal.