Business Name

That is one reason why I did not name my company after myself when I was in business.

Can't wait for Kent to back in from his topo and read this post. He'll give us all an earful about "Proper Professional Endeavor Nomenclature" I'm sure.

(Damn caps lock button. Does anyone else here use caps for their work stuff, come here to make a comment, forget the caps, and have to go back and retype half a thought?) Anyways! I find it funny when the boss goes to the field, he is also the owner, and the client wants to argue and they say "Well, you say XXXX, but when I was on the phone with Mr Owner yesterday, he said YYYY!" it's so much fun to watch his face!

Monte, post: 389166, member: 11913 wrote: (Damn caps lock button. Does anyone else here use caps for their work stuff, come here to make a comment, forget the caps, and have to go back and retype half a thought?) Anyways! I find it funny when the boss goes to the field, he is also the owner, and the client wants to argue and they say "Well, you say XXXX, but when I was on the phone with Mr Owner yesterday, he said YYYY!" it's so much fun to watch his face!

bout a year ago i had one of these. now understand i don't- somewhat on purpose- look like the guy who'd be in charge. adjoiner nimby-type lady walks over and meets us as we're getting out of the truck, hot and bothered at the sight of us, as it certainly means something is happening to "her" buffer against the rest of civilization next door. she was... civil... but not happy. wanted my boss' card. tried explaining to her that i was the boss, she clearly wasn't buying it. "i want your boss' card," again and again. finally i relented. pulled a card out of my wallet, has my boss' name and "RPLS" and "owner" directly underneath. she pulls out her cell phone and calls the number on the card. my cell rings, i say "pardon me, i have a call" and walk about 10 steps away. you can guess how happy she was when she could hear me say "hello" in both ears...

That is one of the reasons my business card has "my name" on it with the office phone and my cell phone numbers and specify that the cell phone is for text messages only and that I will not answer it.
Leave any voice messages on the office number because they will be checked.
When I have time to talk, I will call back.
Of course I will respond to important calls immediately or asap.

Monte, post: 389166, member: 11913 wrote: (Damn caps lock button. Does anyone else here use caps for their work stuff, come here to make a comment, forget the caps, and have to go back and retype half a thought?)

Yes!
This helps

A few years ago I met with one f the principals of our company on a site to look at a problem. A neighbor (who was NOT happy with the development) came over to complain to anyone who would listen. The principle was looking at a set of plans on the hood of my truck while I tried to deal with the neighbor. The neighbor SWORE that promises had been made to him about setbacks along his line. I knew this wasn't true but he kept going on anyway. Then he said that he had gotten it personally from "John Smith" (not his real name) who was a vice president of the company. I then called the principle over and introduced "John Smith" to the neighbor. He couldn't back down quickly enough. Oddly enough the neighbor was hauled to jail for assaulting a deputy sheriff who was investigating vandalism on the project.
Andy

Yup. Leanin' back jest awaitin' Ol' Kent to chime in.

Andy Bruner, post: 389190, member: 1123 wrote: A few years ago I met with one f the principals of our company on a site to look at a problem. A neighbor (who was NOT happy with the development) came over to complain to anyone who would listen. The principle was looking at a set of plans on the hood of my truck while I tried to deal with the neighbor. The neighbor SWORE that promises had been made to him about setbacks along his line. I knew this wasn't true but he kept going on anyway. Then he said that he had gotten it personally from "John Smith" (not his real name) who was a vice president of the company. I then called the principle over and introduced "John Smith" to the neighbor. He couldn't back down quickly enough. Oddly enough the neighbor was hauled to jail for assaulting a deputy sheriff who was investigating vandalism on the project.
Andy

A little off topic but I love catching a property owner in a lie.

A couple months ago I surveyed a property and found 5 or 6 corners of a property within a tenth of the deed and plat creating the parcel. Except for one which was a found stone on original survey. And the line between said stone and a rod was called into question by the property owner of the parcel and the neighbor. The owner of the parcel in question hired me to stake said line.

After locating the other corners I determined that the stone had been moved abouy 2' from what the original survey showed. What the owner did not know is the original surveyor was my mentor and I KNOW his work. He is meticulous to say the least.

So at the stone in question with the property owner in tow, I told him that the stone should hit "here", he said how can you tell that, I said because there is an indentation in the ground the size of the stone and that it has been moved. My guys set up and staked my calc and sure enough the point hit in the indentation. I told him the stone had been moved, and he didn't argue which told me that he moved it. I staked the line as it was supposed to be, he paid me, and his fence was 2' over the line.

If you lie you cheat and if you cheat you steal!

My opinion is leave the Initials off, but a last name for a smaller business is fine.
If I don't have a reference for a business I need to use, when looking for businesses,
I'll call Smith or Jones ..... instead of ABC ...... Be proud of your name no matter how it's spelled.

I'm planning on going solo, and I won't be able to use any part of my name, since the last name is rarely pronounced right and never, ever spelled correctly. I'll pick something that everyone can understand over the phone without me spelling out my first and last name every damn time, same goes for the website - I don't want to have tell people how to spell that over and over either.

Allen Wrench, post: 389327, member: 6172 wrote: I'm planning on going solo, and I won't be able to use any part of my name, since the last name is rarely pronounced right and never, ever spelled correctly. I'll pick something that everyone can understand over the phone without me spelling out my first and last name every damn time, same goes for the website - I don't want to have tell people how to spell that over and over either.

my old man was in the transmission business. stuck his name on everything. when he converted to a franchise of the beep-beep national chain he even paid them some kind of graft to o.k. him putting his name on his franchise. used to have pens and keychains and various other tchotchkes with "who is charlie dashner?" printed on them. not sure what the psychology of his small town celebrity dreams were, but it affected me enough that i absolutely refuse to slap my name on any business i own or operate.

but my theory here, as with most things: whatever gets you through the night is allright.

erwsdot, post: 389323, member: 6038 wrote: My opinion is leave the Initials off, but a last name for a smaller business is fine.
If I don't have a reference for a business I need to use, when looking for businesses,
I'll call Smith or Jones ..... instead of ABC ...... Be proud of your name no matter how it's spelled.

I have my initials and surname for the business name as my surname is similar to a first name. People have many reasons for selecting the name they use.

Tommy Young, post: 389156, member: 703 wrote: If you have any hopes of growing this business ... do not name the business after yourself,

All I can say to that is that one of the largest engineering/land surveying companies on the west coast, with hundred of employees and dozens of offices, is David Evans & Associates. Old Dave is no longer taking calls, but his name lives on. There are a number of other long term players in the local market also named after their founder.

Mark Mayer, post: 389334, member: 424 wrote: All I can say to that is that one of the largest engineering/land surveying companies on the west coast, with hundred of employees and dozens of offices, is David Evans & Associates. Old Dave is no longer taking calls, but his name lives on. There are a number of other long term players in the local market also named after their founder.

That's an excellent counter point.

Mark Mayer, post: 389334, member: 424 wrote: All I can say to that is that one of the largest engineering/land surveying companies on the west coast, with hundred of employees and dozens of offices, is David Evans & Associates. Old Dave is no longer taking calls, but his name lives on. There are a number of other long term players in the local market also named after their founder.

Who you gonna call to issue the IPO when that start up of yours goes public...a firm named after the founders like JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley or AAA Investment Bankers (after all they must be good, they're listed first in the yellow pages ;))

I used my name as my business name. Seems simple enough. I see all kinds of other names of businesses and they aren't any more impressive than a simple name. The quality of work you do is what your business name becomes.

A name is just a starting point, putting quality behind the name, no matter what you call it, is the key.

Both of my previous bosses used their name as the business name.

Another advantage of using the principal's name: you don't have to file fictitious business name statements.

I work for "Gold & Mean, Land Surveyors".
Neither one is ever around, which gives a considerable power of plausible deniability when answering the phone.
For example:
"Miss Gold ain't here just now. She's out healing the sick. Mister Mean ain't here neither. He's out taking care of Accounts Receivable."
"Miss Gold ain't here today. She's out helpin' the poor. Mister Mean ain't here today neither, thank goodness."

"Miss Gold would like to see a 50% deposit to start the research."

"Mister Mean asked me to call you about your outstanding bill."

and the final veto on dang near anything: "Miss Gold Would Not Like That."