Discussion on naming a surveying business

A sole proprietor probably should use his name, but a multi-function firm probably should not. Those firms tend to have leadership and ownership turnovers.

Paden Cash would be a good name.....

I tend to agree with vern. Some survey-related terms (like "CornerStone" for instance) aren't bad. I would shy away especially from things like 'Best Survey Firm Around" or the like. I always have a second thought when a company has to tell me they are great. Good references are so much better than the guy who wants your money telling you how great they are.

Holy, You can bring it to the top in "Recent Posts" if you just post on the site once to bump it up.

The problem with that is that the topic of the original thread has nothing to do with where the discussion went. That's why I started this one and reference that one.

My firm's name is more or less based on the name of the local Coca-Cola Bottling Company around here...but just by chance. It's just a generic name of a geographic region.

And while there may be a few of us with a fossilized opinion about a firm's name being reserved for the name of the principal, I completely disagree with that concept. Let's say Mr. Kant C. Nuttin, PLS provided professional services for a few decades with a good client base when he decided that crappie fishing was more along the lines of his desires. Now closing the doors would be an option, especially if Kant was under a misconception there was no one on the face of the earth that could provide the same quality of services to his established clients. Then his client base would be forced to wander aimlessly until some other surveyor snatched them up.

But if that same firm had a generic enough sounding name, that business could be sold and actually operated by someone other than Mr. Nuttin.

I have proceeded to sell my interests and retire. But I am backing out slowly and remaining available for those clients that feel the need to actually talk to me and not my understudy. Eventually, all my clients will be comfortable with the status quo and I can get back to my crappie. It has been profitable.

So if a surveyor feels the need to base his consulting services ONLY on his name, he may lose a good amount of income opportunity in not being able to sell his company if he decides to retire.

But...(and there is always a but)..the contrary may be shown. Mark Deal & Associates continues to perform well as a professional entity even though Mark hasn't been with us for sixteen or seventeen years (man, has it been that long?), Mark's partner continued on with the name as more of a tribute and has done well.

And it seems as though folks younger than myself, and my fictitious, grumpy and narrow minded curmudgeon Mr. Kant actually gravitate to companies with names like 'Compass Needle Surveying' and 'North Star Services', so there may actually be something there in the demographics. I can picture a younger person searching his smart phone for surveying services and comes up with Joe Mudder, PLS...and passes it by because he knows all the old guys only use their names....and he wants to deal with someone closer to his age...;-)

Generic or name of founder....each seems to have worked out well for Ford and General Motors.

There are a number of firms out there that initially were in the name of the principles but since altered there name to an acronym of the beginning initials of their last names. For example Smith, Jones & Cow becomes "SJC Land Surveying" this seems reasonable to me, not some kind of scam to sound corporate. Like Jim Frame I probably mistakenly made my name too long, Roger_LS & Associates Land Surveying could have just as easily been Roger_LS Surveying

paden cash, post: 375646, member: 20 wrote: Let's say Mr. Kant C. Nuttin, PLS provided professional services for a few decades with a good client base when he decided that crappie fishing was more along the lines of his desires. Now closing the doors would be an option, especially if Kant was under a misconception there was no one on the face of the earth that could provide the same quality of services to his established clients. Then his client base would be forced to wander aimlessly until some other surveyor snatched them up.

But if that same firm had a generic enough sounding name, that business could be sold and actually operated by someone other than Mr. Nuttin.

Whenever a sole practitioner sells his or her practice, it's expected that he or she will stick around during the transition period, both to introduce clients to his successor and to support making sense of the existing record-keeping systems that were (presumably) part of the value of the practice. So Nuttin-Cash would be the obvious choice during the transition period. Nuttin-Cash holds the place in the phone directory and keeps the same telephone number active, but, after a sufficient period of time, the new owner could move on to "Cash & Carey Surveying or Mapping" or whatever.

I have heard that if the company name has anything related to a plant, tree or flower, etc, you will get as many gardening/ landscaping calls as survey requests.

vern, post: 375641, member: 3436 wrote: A sole proprietor probably should use his name, but a multi-function firm probably should not. Those firms tend to have leadership and ownership turnovers.

So, is the idea that the storefront name serves to conceal what the actual state of the firm is so that prospective clients will be fooled?

A quick review of the firm names carried in the Texas roster (aside from those based upon the names of principals) suggests that they fall into generally the following categories:

1. Names chosen to be near the top in alphabetical order.
2. Names suggesting high accuracy
3. Names suggesting vigor or energy
4. Names involving plants
5. Names based upon a place or service area
6. Names with a quaint-sounding historical reference
7. Names based upon surveying terms

Some even qualify in multiple categories.

I would repeat what I said in the other thread and suggest that names that are professional sounding should be used, as opposed to names based on surveying terms that have been used many times before or names based on numbers 1-4 on the list above.

gschrock, post: 375660, member: 556 wrote: A location could be a close second like "Pleasantville Property Surveying" sorta stakes out territory and the target market for services.

With the exception that some geographically-based firm names along the lines of "All County", "Statewide", "Interstate", and "4-County" are more aspirational than specific.

Paul Landau, post: 375656, member: 2526 wrote: I have heard that if the company name has anything related to a plant, tree or flower, etc, you will get as many gardening/ landscaping calls as survey requests.

Can't tell you how many times I've had the sign on my truck misread as Landscaper.

I had several reasons for the name I chose for my new business. Some reasons are personal and will remain personal. Some were commercially motivated.

My business name is completely legal, approved by the Texas Board of Professional Land Surveying. It's specious to argue that my business name is unprofessional.

The quality of professional services is governed by the quality of a professional's services, not the name on the shingle.

Here is my theory:
Every business develops a brand. The brand is independent of the name of the business. The brand is the reputation of a person or organization - the public perception of the culture, the values, the priorities of a group. The brand becomes an attachment to the name, but isn't necessarily dictated by the name. I'm looking to build a brand. Whether the name of that brand is Shawn Billings or Pendulum Surveying makes little difference at the end of the day. The perception is what is key. This perception can be based on marketing, such as ads that suggest or state that the organization is the desireable to a potential client and exceeds comptetitors, but ultimately I believe it will depend on the actual performance of the organization.

There is portability with an ambiguous name. I can build the brand and conceivably sell it later provided that I can build value in the brand. I could do the same with "Shawn Billings Surveying". I like the ambiguous nature of Pendulum because it is a blank slate with no preconceived brand. It's reputation will be entirely what I build into it. If I do good work, the brand will be good. If I do poorly, so will the brand. Using my name may also have brand preconceptions that may or may not be accurate, but at the least, the branding will have been based on a preconception rather than reality.

Other than the distasteful mockery from Kent, I believe a pendulum represents the values I hope to promote: quality services provided on schedule. In a word, I'm looking to provide excellence. I don't have to worry about explaining a pendulum to someone, people typically know what a pendulum is and it has a neutral connotation. So I can build meaning into the name based on my performance.

This is theory on my part. I hope to demonstrate that a surveyor can provide quality services and make a rewarding income. It may prove that the ambiguous name was the wrong decision, but it's my decision and I violated no laws or ethics.

I don't mind the discussion or that others may find it preferable to name their business after the principal's name. Accusations that I am unprofessional in some way for choosing a different strategy are absurd. I'm reminded why I quit participating in discussions with Kent. I hope you find Jesus, Kent. Feeding your ego by disparaging me (and others) will prove to be a very empty pursuit. Jesus Christ will give your life meaning.

Lots of names come to mind.

Iron Stob Surveying
Lost Corner Surveying
Big Monument Surveying
Lost Cause Surveying. (Hello, Lost Cause, may I help you?)
Little Traverse
Big Traverse
Old Rebar
Monumental Surveying
Pflueger Land Surveying
Rock Pile Surveying
Corners R Us
Long Shot
And, my favorite:
Pine Knot Surveying.

N

Shawn Billings, post: 375668, member: 6521 wrote: My business name is completely legal, approved by the Texas Board of Professional Land Surveying. It's specious to argue that my business name is unprofessional.

Is your argument that any name that is approved by the Texas Board of Professional Land Surveying is ipso facto professionally acceptable ?

That would seem to ignore the idea that there is a limit beyond which the crass commercial aspects of marketing a service to the public works against the profession

OSM Surveying

It's a limited liability world, has been since 1857 or 1871 or 1910 or 1933 or so. Three generations of that stuff.
Nobody cares about their boundaries because the title insurance is supposed to cover it. Never mind that issues disclosed by a survey are disclaimed unless one knows to get a survey and get that exclusion removed, right? The citizens have a murky assumption that everything is insured, reinsured, bonded, regulated, and a "corporate" sounding name gives citizens the warm fuzzies that a larger company has more insurance, more "economy of scale" and a lower commodity price.

Add to that, in the logic of the limited liability world, the business is a mythical "ship" on the ocean of commerce -- it is its own entity, the crew is interchangeable, and putting any participant's name on the entity only serves to weaken the corporate veil.

Putting one's own name on the business might seem like the right thing to do in a "common law" neighborly kind of way, and certainly appeals to some demographics. It's a dumb thing to do in terms of commercial law and corporate logic. For the corporation to maintain its veil requires that everyone speak of the fictional entity as if it were invisible flesh and blood.

Surveyors are caught between the common law and commercial law. I suppose one of the wonderful aspects about the times we live in is that we can choose either business form or business naming convention as suits our situation and intended demographic.

Lately I am thinking about forming a non-profit to do surveys on a donation basis.

My business partners (for which I have 2) and I chose our company name and slogan to convey a message about how we operate. We all worked together at a very large multi discipline multi office multi state consulting firm for 13+ years before going out on our own. Since there were 3 of us we contemplated different combinations of our names and initials but at the end of the day decided that would be too law firmy. For us just starting out we needed a company name that would separate us and our reputations from our prior company and also stand the test of time if one or all of us chose to move on and sell our shares. Point Consulting was born from those needs and desires important to us. Our moto, "Let's get to the Point!" was coined to help reinforce the separation from that prior large company that carried tons of overhead and describe how we cut the BS and getting things done. For those we had working relationships with prior to starting the company I think the separation aspect was important and for completely new people we hope the latter speaks strongly to them. We provide multiple professional services; Land Surveying, Civil Engineering and Landscape Architecture so a name that included all of them would have been ridiculously long. Point felt like it stood for a few things relating to what we do...a place to start and something you're trying to get to. That's my story and I'm sticking to it! Interesting topic.