Trying to think of name for business

[redfaery]

I'm trying to come up with a name for my little business I'm starting up soon. My last name is Robinson, so was thinking maybe I could come up with something with the initials RTFM somehow. I also have a financial planning background along with my IT background and someone gave me the suggestion of putting that in the name somehow, but I'm not sure on that. Though I usually do basic tax returns currently for friends on the side along with helping with IT issues.

Ideas?

 

[JosephLeo]

Are you serious about the RTFM thing? Smart customers who know a thing or two about acronyms would be very offended by that. In case you didn't know RTFM means "Read the f**king manual". (I'll admit though I did once say PEBKAC to a client before which translates to Problem Exists Between Keyboard and Chair)

However, if all you want are some random names then you can go here to get an idea. That's pretty much the same quality you're going to get by just asking around on a forum...there are professionals who come up with names though. Google "branding solutions" and you should get a few thousand or so companies who would be willing to help you for a small nominal fee to come up with an AMAZING name for you.

I spend a month and a half trying to figure out my name. The only more important thing that a brand is the name itself...so don't pass it off as a simple thing...at least, that's my suggestions.

If you're still bent on a random name off of a forum then here is a small list I can come up with.

Generic Computer Tech Names
Tech-911
PC Repair Now

Late Hours
Night Owl Solutions (or Night Owl Tech Solutions)
Lunar Tech

Business Class
IT Guardians
Servers 2 Go

 

[Mr I]

It's a fact that you're selling services but in marketing, you'll be selling a brand, YOUR BRAND! so, take your time and think about a niche, colors, fonts, location and little by little you'll get an idea.

Tell us more so that we can help you

 

[edgepcs]

Branding is essential nowadays, so once you have a name try to come up with some common elements to use with it e.g. logo, colours, fonts etc

All of my advertising and business documents follow the same basic design and have a motif which is recognisable (the hexagons). All of my customers immediately recognise that it is Edge PCs!

 

[redfaery]

Thanks guys. Gives me some things to think about. I'm at least a month away from actually starting this. I want to get as much as I can figured out before I start this as a real business.

Currently I'm thinking about offering some of the following services:
-software installs and updates
-hardware upgrades and repairs for desktops and laptops
-helping a customer with "advise" on what to purchase as far as what computers, printers, software might best meet their needs
-new computer and peripheral sets
-wireless network and home network setups
-offering computer maintenance plans to small businesses (veterinarians, dentists, chiropractors, etc) where I come in on a set schedule and make sure their systems are running smoothly, have all updates and patches for Windows, and so on

I also have experience with setup and support of several popular small business accounting packages (Navision, QuickBooks, etc), so thought to offer help choosing and setting up those as well for small companies as well as be the first go to with basic questions on how to use the software programs to help their business.

I am aware of what RTFM, didn't occur to me that someone might be offended by that acronym, so that's definitely something to think about.

Also thanks for the links to help me figure out what to call this business. I know the brand and name is important, that's your first impression. I have to admit though that thinking up names is not a forte of mine in general, which is why I'm asking for help.

 

[1101doc]

As I said in another thread, I think small business does well to include the name of the town or area in which it provides service. This makes them "local" and immediately more trusted by potential customers. It also provides natural SEO when local customers are searching for nearby service on the Internet.

 

[ProTech Support]

As I said in another thread, I think small business does well to include the name of the town or area in which it provides service. This makes them "local" and immediately more trusted by potential customers. It also provides natural SEO when local customers are searching for nearby service on the Internet.

+1 I tend to agree with this.

 

[MobileTechie]

Definitely. Having the search terms in the URL count for a lot in natural search. e.g. www.townnamecomputerrepair.com

 

[PcTek9]

or even a region... northern kentucky pc repair for example. I wouldn't use redfaery though. Too many americans associate red with communism. They also associate faery with tinkerbell the fairy from the disney cartoon fantasia, as a result, they look at it as a childlike phenomenon, and might not take you seriously.

Maybe louisville pc repair, northern kentucky systems consulting and repair, along those lines.

But then... what do i know? What does the words Go-Daddy have anything to do with internet website hosting. It's so unconventional and yet they are #1. Why did the shitte cookie company decision to open a plant in the usa fail so badly, when the shitte cookie company does so well in their native dutch homeland? Even ambiguous names like Micro (meaning small) and Soft (meaning ...) well why are they worth billions with such a self depricating name?

What does a fox on fire have to do with web browsing? On the other hand, if Norton AntiVirus has a logo, I honestly couldn't tell you what it is...

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet... what's in a name?

Goodluck, and welcome...

 

[redfaery]

or even a region... northern kentucky pc repair for example. I wouldn't use redfaery though. Too many americans associate red with communism. They also associate faery with tinkerbell the fairy from the disney cartoon fantasia, as a result, they look at it as a childlike phenomenon, and might not take you seriously.

Since your name is steve, i would suggest steve's pc repair, louisville pc repair, northern kentucky systems consulting and repair, along those lines.

But then... what do i know? What does the words Go-Daddy have anything to do with internet website hosting. It's so unconventional and yet they are #1. Why did the shitte cookie company decision to open a plant in the usa fail so badly, when the shitte cookie company does so well in their native dutch homeland? Even ambiguous names like Micro (meaning small) and Soft (meaning ...) well why are they worth billions with such a self depricating name?

What does a fox on fire have to do with web browsing? On the other hand, if Norton AntiVirus has a logo, I honestly couldn't tell you what it is...

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet... what's in a name?

Oh no, never going to use redfaery for business purposes, it's just the login I've gone by since about '94. One of those I actually will answer to in real life I've gone by for so long.

Name is actually Britney Robinson. I'm in my late 30's but most of the Britney's I've met are 10-15 years younger than me or more and ditzy, so I definitely wouldn't use my first name either. There seems to be a few fly-by night companies in the area that use Louisville or Kentucky in their names as well, so have to think about using either as part of the name. And then again what happens if I want to move someday and take the business to another region?

 

[1101doc]

I wouldn't worry about that until I have a thriving business where I am now.

 

[Xtreme]

Yeah I agree with the fly by nights. Im from louisville also and I see a lot of shops and listings in the yellow pages. The main competition I believe would be SEC and CK computers, in the southend anyways. SEC prices are by far the cheapest and have a very strong rep but the turn around times are (majority of the time) longer than most because of the volume they get. CK computers has been around for quite some time also but honestly I hear many horror stories from there, mainly just no COA stickers on their custom built PC's and no way for them to even get them from the company.

Anyways, just want to say good luck. It's going to be interesting that 2 people on these forums are starting a business at the same time in the same city.

 

[redfaery]

Yeah I agree with the fly by nights. Im from louisville also and I see a lot of shops and listings in the yellow pages. The main competition I believe would be SEC and CK computers, in the southend anyways. SEC prices are by far the cheapest and have a very strong rep but the turn around times are (majority of the time) longer than most because of the volume they get. CK computers has been around for quite some time also but honestly I hear many horror stories from there, mainly just no COA stickers on their custom built PC's and no way for them to even get them from the company.

Anyways, just want to say good luck. It's going to be interesting that 2 people on these forums are starting a business at the same time in the same city.

Definitely good luck to you also. At least we're not in a rural area where two people would have a heck of a time finding enough people to work for I think. I actually have a tech associate over in Southern Indiana that I'm going to be doing some cooperative work with. He only wants to work part time evenings and weekends and in southern Indiana. We're going to try working out a referral system for each other for those jobs that would be better suited location and timewise for each other.

The more I work on a plan, the more I'm wanting to concentrate on small professional businesses near me, such as veterinarians, chiropractors, dentists, etc. Home users would be secondary to that (and I'm sure necessary to get the word out, etc). Mostly because I'm female and going to people's home's may not be quite as safe in some areas of town as going to businesses may be, though of course I'll try to screen clients before I go somewhere for a job. I also have a lot of experience supporting small business accounting programs, so I may use my financial planning degree credentials to push that as well as a service I can offer. At least I know the small company I work for and ones I've worked for in the past is always seeming to need someone they can go to with simple technical setup and other questions about their programs such as Quickbooks and the like.

I'm leaning towards finding a way to incorporate that into my name/brand as well.

 

[Xtreme]

I dont know to much about the financial planning type work but it sounds like something that you could specialize in. I think small business will like the fact that you know the software thats used and the hardware that its running on. But I think you might want to target one or the other when you decide on a name.

I dont know, just feel like they're in 2 totally different markets. I'm not sure how you could do this.

 

[redfaery]

I dont know to much about the financial planning type work but it sounds like something that you could specialize in. I think small business will like the fact that you know the software thats used and the hardware that its running on. But I think you might want to target one or the other when you decide on a name.

I dont know, just feel like they're in 2 totally different markets. I'm not sure how you could do this.

Part of what I'm trying to figure out. I'm better at the IT general side, but since I do know how to setup and run financial software, maybe I'll offer that as an "additional" service to my small business companies, if needed. Hmmmm

 

[Xtreme]

One thing you might want to think about is if you start adding services that is not directly related to your main purpose of business you might look like a jack of trades master of none. Im sure businesses would like to have somebody that specializes in one specific area, somebody thats puts all their focus on one problem. It reminds me of a video store that use to be by me (dont know if you've heard of them but it was river city video) they started to carry weed eaters and lawnmowers. I had a good laugh everytime I went in there picturing myself walking out of a video store pushing a lawn mower with one hand and holding a reciept in the other. lol

Anyways, when someone in a business decides that they need help with an issue they look for a specialist. If the computers are screwed up then they will call somebody that was referred to them or look in the yellow pages under "computers" and I am sure it would be the same for financial planning. Could it work, Im sure it could for some businesses but I dont think I would push it that hard though, unless you are only setting up finacial software. I think it wouldnt look to good if you the dentistry's IT person told them that they could also do their financial planning.

 

[redfaery]

One thing you might want to think about is if you start adding services that is not directly related to your main purpose of business you might look like a jack of trades master of none. Im sure businesses would like to have somebody that specializes in one specific area, somebody thats puts all their focus on one problem. It reminds me of a video store that use to be by me (dont know if you've heard of them but it was river city video) they started to carry weed eaters and lawnmowers. I had a good laugh everytime I went in there picturing myself walking out of a video store pushing a lawn mower with one hand and holding a reciept in the other. lol

Anyways, when someone in a business decides that they need help with an issue they look for a specialist. If the computers are screwed up then they will call somebody that was referred to them or look in the yellow pages under "computers" and I am sure it would be the same for financial planning. Could it work, Im sure it could for some businesses but I dont think I would push it that hard though, unless you are only setting up finacial software. I think it wouldnt look to good if you the dentistry's IT person told them that they could also do their financial planning.

Oh no, maybe I didn't make myself clear, I'd only be helping set up business software, not going to do any financial planning. I've been too far out of that field for too long to go back to doing that professionally again. I was thinking from a purely software angle, as in since I have a background in financial planning I can help them set up business/financial planning software on their end.