Need a clever name for the biz.

[Jacob Perry]

Ive read mikes book and his post on this. Just for the life of me i cant not come up with a name. Any suggestions?

[Joe@Superior Shine]

I can't pick a name for you but her are a few guide lines I would use -

1- pick something that will not be confused with your competitors and will be still be fresh years from now. My business name is Superior Shine. It was great 20+ years ago. Seems like a lot of "SHINE" this and "SHINE" that are around now.

2 - pick a name that caters to your target market. There was a place here called "Pick and save," they obviously didn't target the affluent.

3 - make it memorable. I see too many "Johns detailing" or "ABC Detailing" etc.... to plain and boring.

4 - If I had to pick a name again I'd pick something I could attach a theme to such as ROYAL then you could do the king and queen thing and we treat you like royalty, etc....

5 - You want a name that you can get a good web site address for.

6- a name that reflects the type of detailing you will do. QUICK DETAIL, ELITE DETAILING (BTW "Elite detailing" name has been beat to death) , etc...

7- maybe choose a name of something prominent in your area. I was raised outside of Atlanta and always thought "STONE MOUNTAIN DETAILING COMPANY" would be cool.

8 - be whimsical!! If done cleverly will be an asset.

Hope that helps

[MaxWax]

Like Joe said, we can't pick a name for you but here's my input: don't put your name in the business name! My name is Max and my company is MaxWax Auto Detailing, but Max can just mean Maximum so it works out. You never know how big the company will get and years down the line if you want to sell the company, it'll be better if your name isn't in the name.

[UltimateDetail]

hey off topic but whats the title for the youtube video still in your profile pic?

[Spiney]

I can't pick a name for you but her are a few guide lines I would use -

.

2 - pick a name that caters to your target market. There was a place here called "Pick and save," they obviously didn't target the affluent.

3 - make it memorable. I see too many "Johns detailing" or "ABC Detailing" etc.... to plain and boring.


5 - You want a name that you can get a good web site address for.


8 - be whimsical!! If done cleverly will be an asset.

Hope that helps

Joe brought up some great points. My wife and I had a photography studio for 15 years. Our name was Say "Cheese" Photography with a tagline "We Love Kids"

Everyone else used their name. We would ask people who did you go to before? Oh some guy in the next town, I can't remember his / her name. People remembered our name

Now as far as a name that targeted our market. We did very well but were told by several business consultants to change our name, after we had 8-10 years of recognition, because we couldn't serve upscale clients. We agreed, but we were well established and doing great.

We had a great website. Saycheesephotography.com (http://www.saycheesephotography.com).

unfortunately saycheese.com was owned by a cheese company.

But our name was good enough we sold the domain name for $2500 after we closed. We were told by EXPERTS it was worth $200 tops.

Whimsical: Our Logo really worked for us. It was a mouse using a big view camera on a tripod. He had the black cloth pulled up over his head but you could see the shape of his ears, and he was standing on a wedge of swiss cheese. We used the logo everywhere.

Best place I had a Saab model 99 3 door wagon. Painted it Screaming Yellow Zonker Yellow. Had our logo and name done professionally in vinyl by a sign maker and he installed it on our car, big and bold along with Phone Number and Website.

Best part Kodak paid for the sign because we said we use Kodak film & paper on the car. Everyone knew and loved the car. It was known as the Cheesemobile. Everywhere we went, to work, on location, running errands, or shopping or eating out it was working for us 24x7x7. So there are somethings to think of. If I find a picture, I'll post it in my album. Spiney-Dave

[Mike Phillips]

Here's a recent example of a friend reading my article and then picking a domain name. His name is John and he's a Master Carpenter. he played around with all kinds of ideas for domain names and asked me about a couple ideas.

I politely shot them down because they went against everything in my article,

How to choose a name for your detailing business (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/tricks-tips-techniques/22283-how-choose-name-your-detailing-business.html)


Here's a small portion of my article,




Here's a few tips and to help you choose a name for your part-time or full-time detailing business.



Choose a name that tells your prospective customer what's in it for them.


Choose a name that's easy to spell, pronounce, remember, type and write.


Choose a name that can be registered as a Domain Name, preferably a .com




Then he asked me what I though about

JohntheWoodMan.com


I said it works. Might not be the best but the best names he came up with that aligned with my suggestions in my article were already taken as .com names.

So he purchased the domain name JohntheWoodMan.com and as he started to share it with his customers, friends and family, he found that everyone he shared it with could,


Related the name with him and what he does for a living
Spell it
Pronounce it
Remember it
Type it
Write it


And now after about a week he loves it. He told me that the feedback he gets is overwhelmingly positive. It's simple too...


Joe offered some great ideas to and Joe I would recommend taking your post and turning it into a dedicated article in our forum here,

How to make money detailing cars (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/how-make-money-detailing-cars/)


Take your time and find a domain name that really works best for you because if you're successful you're going to have the name for a long time.


:)

[Jacob Perry]

hey off topic but whats the title for the youtube video still in your profile pic?


Just youtube jeff suggs.

[Jacob Perry]

thanks everyone.

[Gurge]

great info above

as stated, ultimately its up to you to come up with something 'clever'.

it can even be an inside joke of sorts. just use your head. For example, it's rarely picked up, but "Mr. Sparkle" is just a reference to the simpsons (put it in youtube if you don't believe me). So it's a fun name for me, and kind of a fun name for clients. I think people get a kick out of someone proclaiming themselves to be "Mr. Sparkle" (strangers typically don't ask for Bryan when they call - they ask for Mr. Sparkle)

another forum member here owns Big "A" Detailing. I've never met him, but he acknowledges he's not the tallest dude out there. So when people find out that he is "Big A" it sometimes comes with a smirk. but that may be enough for people to remember him and make a connection

good luck

[JonFD]

I trademarked "Finished Detailing" but I was originally thinking of "Final Touch"... I think it's floating around but I'm sure it could be available in your area.

[Blade-Runner]

With 20 years of marketing experience, here is my advice.

With all due respect, just the fact that you're asking this question means that you haven't done your due diligence. Your not ready to start your company yet.

Do your business plan. This will help you figure out your company motto, which will help guide you in the naming process.

You have to hone the intrinsic properties of your brand into a single thought, quality. For example INtegrated ELectronics was shortened to Intel. It would be even better if you can make the name sound like a 'category' name, or invent a new category. (nobody says 'facial tissue' or 'photocopier', they say 'Kleenex' and 'Xerox')

What is your USP or Unique Selling Proposition? This will ultimately direct you in branding your company. For example, are you going to focus on the 'green' aspect of detailing? Are you going to specialize in high-end market?, middle market? You need to have a USP and this would be part of your company motto as well.

Develop a professional logo. Make it simple. Less is more. A cheesy, badly designed logo can ruin your brand, now and for years to come. Just because your wife, daughter or grandmother thinks it's cool, doesn't mean it is.

Don't try to be 'all things' to 'all of the company' because you'll end up being 'nothing' to 'none of the company' In other words, just because it's 'your' company doesn't mean you have to be in control of everything. Don't be afraid to say, "I'm not good at this" For example, logo design. ;)

It doesn't matter what you think of your brand, it's what your customers think of it.

Think like a customer and your company will be 200% more successful.

[Chancer53]

it can even be an inside joke of sorts. just use your head. For example, it's rarely picked up, but "Mr. Sparkle" is just a reference to the simpsons (put it in youtube if you don't believe me). So it's a fun name for me, and kind of a fun name for clients. I think people get a kick out of someone proclaiming themselves to be "Mr. Sparkle" (strangers typically don't ask for Bryan when they call - they ask for Mr. Sparkle)

I wish I could be Mr. Sparkle, that's amazing