Choosing Business Name
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- e-wo
Forcing myself to buckle down and choose a DBA this week. Got a nice top choice. After searching around, someone else is using the same name in the same industry. I'm in California, they're in Melbourne.
Would going with this name pose any significant disadvantages? They don't have crazy good search results, but we will almost certainly appear together in the top 10. If a potential client is familiar enough with me to Google my name, surely he can discern between locations, right?
Thanks in advance for the truth.
- futuremongolian1
"Would going with this name pose any significant disadvantages?"
Yes, huge disadvantages.
- SimonFFM1
Major disadvantage. Come up with another name.
- srhadden0
luckily froozlagram.com is still available
- not any moreflashbender
- Do you want to sell it now/ How much?fyoucher1
- BaskerviIle0
Try and create a unique name for google purposes. I'm surprised more new companies don't always consider this.
I created a unique name for a personal website and it's so useful, because I know any reference to that name on google is almost certainly going to be about the project.
- vaxorcist0
@BaskerviIle's right, why do you think so many silicon valley startups have names like "google" and other such made-up words...
fun to test things...
http://wordoid.com/risks of too-oddball names...
http://www.igorinternational.com…obvious, but a good checklist:
http://www.collegefallout.com/5-…
- srhadden0
pick something short you can type with two fingers from the top row of the keyboard, such as ueyryry.com or tutytutytu.com
- e-wo0
bump
- mg330
- e-wo0
Just to clarify, the issue with using a name that isn't 100% unique is:
– danger of traffic going to the other domain instead of mine?
– takes some punch out of my image as "a creative"?
- ukit20
What's the name?
- ETM0
Does the Aussie company use .com.au or just .com?
- nylon0
We once had a situation like this...
Lets say I WANTED my business to be called 'The Monkey'...
The Monkey wasnt available as a URL so I figured out what was best.
I realised that I could register 'The Monkey Studio Ltd' and so I purchased 'www.themonkeystudio.co.uk'
I then find out that there is website (4 years later) called 'www.the-monkeystudio.co.uk'. We phone him up and ask them if they are essentially us and they say yes!!!
I sued the cunt!
Moral of the story - people may think you are 'passing off' as them and may sue you...
There is nothing wrong with 'surnameandsurname' in my opinion...
Are you really going to get more work because you are caleed something like 'stratosphere' or 'boink'... Does anyone really care?
I think you would be a fool to call yourself a name that already exists in different countries in the design world...
Hope you sort it out mate...
- qoob0
^ One footnote to that though...if the other company is based in Australia and he is in the U.S., I don't think there is any danger of a lawsuit.
- e-wo0
them: ###agency.com
me: designby###.com- them: agency
me: sole prope-wo - have a good legal team. that's all.ohhhhhsnap
- I wouldn't worry about it.Amicus
- them: agency
- mikotondria30
Yeh, all the above toing and froing aside, the several hours that you've spent thinking about this and debating it on here could really have been better spent thinking up something else, that's original. Not to be a dick - just playing devil's advocate here, and putting myself in the position of your boss (irrelevent, as it's your company), or a money-paying client - do you spend this long justifying doing work that's very similar to other people's also, or do you know when to quit and restart a project ? It's supposed to be the most valuable and long-learned skill in any creative field - editing, murdering your darlings - having the ability to spot when to just stop and go in another direction. No time spent on a creative endevour ever really goes to waste - you're not throwing out the statue of David or a meal for 300 - my advice ? Forget this other name, write down 10 more NOW - immediately. Just do it. Don't over-think it. Pump them out and cross them off. Do it again. If you need to.
When you write down your name and see it - you'll know. Cherish this feeling - it's sweet, like *just* getting the hang of stilts or that first time you catch the third ball and throw the first one again juggling.
Tell us what it is, and we'll all go 'ooh...yeh, very good.', because it'll be great, because it will be.- Good advice. Thank you. Yes, I know how to murder my babies. I had that epiphany feeling about this one, BUTe-wo
- I'm a big believer in the Idea only revealing itself after the death of the idea.e-wo
- Cool, I wasn't trying to teach you to suck eggs, you sound like you've been round the block :)
Good luck with all this, sir.mikotondria3
- vaxorcist0
using your own name or names can be good....
and if you add "design" or "software" or even "soft" at the end of your name, you still have a good case if you are a designer or developer and you have a situation like the infamous Mike Rowe Soft case........
- canoe0
don't use your name unless it's a portfolio site or if you don't provide branding services... otherwise flex your ability to create a memorable brand with witty copy.
- jonesblake-5
You may want to consider this name suggestions and branding http://freebusinessnamesuggestio… they have unique and catchy names to offer.