Know-How Exchange : Taglines/Names

You are fooling yourself if you think you can come up with a good name when you are so unfocused. You have multiple target audiences, with multiple needs that can be met by multiple different services.

That means any name that will serve all those markets is going to be so generic that nobody will remember it or understand what it is you really do.

Why do you want a single name for all those different businesses? Why not a different name for each market? That way you can actually communicate an important and unique benefit that you offer each one.

As for your target audience, you'd really do yourself a favor if you can limit it somewhat. It will cost you a fortune to create awareness among "everyone." Why not just pick one narrow sliver of that market and do a great job with them. Then you can add another sliver, and another, as time, energy and funds allow. Otherwise, you'll end up spending a lot of money creating very low awareness among the whole world ... and have no business to grow.

Michael is right on the money.

While you can provide each of these 3 services, you're targeting 3 different audiences. While you can create an umbrella name that generically encompasses it, the name truly won't be doing you any favors. For example: Training Success or People-Powered Coaching.

Thanks for your comments, and although I respect your opinion, I am disappointed you think we are unfocused.

There are three of us involved, each of us has a particular field we specialise in. We are sharing a premises, and wish to have a name that will encompass all parts.

For example, a hairdresser may work with a beauty therapist in the same salon. A doctor may work with a physio in the same medical centre.

That is our aim. Yes I realise that a generic name might be what we have to work around, but as we are working together, we are not in a position to have threee names, three offices, three bank accounts, three tax/GST accounts. It is one business and we would like to work together as best we possibly can.

Again, I appreciate your thoughts, but I am seeking some name ideas moreso than business advice. This is a great forum full of people who know what they are talking about, and its fantastic to share knowledge. In our case, we have to work with what we have got. Cheers.

If you can find a barber who wants to share the space with you, you can also include "haircuts" in your business name. Or maybe a dentist. :-)

Seriously, I deal with this phenomenon (i.e., pooling resources in a common office) in the book Rasputin For Hire, especially tempting when the partners actually serve the same general market segments.

In a nutshell, the fact that you are sharing a facility doesn't (or shouldn't) force all of you to compromise the quality (and effectiveness) of your business and marketing plans. Usually the name of a business is a great way to let people know what you do and/or what the benefit is for them.

In your case, it looks like the purpose of the name is to save money on printing checks and stationery. You don't need marketing help. You need to rethink your business plan.

I don't mean this to be snarky. That's not what this is about. I would hate to see you commit to a business that is ill-conceived and become one of the nine out of ten new businesses that fail simply because you didn't think through your business plan. And I would feel worse if we aided and abetted you by suggesting meaningless "generic" names for your business.

Shame on both of us if we do that. If you want to become "Acme Enterprises" (or some such) that's your right. But please don't ask us to become your enabler. We're marketing folks who are proud of what we do.

Chiming in here with my two cents.

True, a hairdresser and an expert in facials might share space. However, those two businesses are at least related to each other.

Construction has nothing to do with weddings!

Michael is right. You need to start over. You need three different businesses, three different names, and three different marketing plans. Putting safety, life coaching and wedding together is, I'm afraid, a recipe for disaster.

Would you patronize a place that offered cooking classes, auto repair, and brain surgery?

Please, please reconsider!


Jodi

Thanks for your thoughts everyone and your business advice. I am closing this question as I am not getting the help I needed here. Thanks Karen for your names, I actually really like them !