What's In A Name?

I'm writing from my girlfriend's apartment this week. We've spent a record amount of time hanging out at the lake this weekend. We got some much needed fun and relaxation in and I've loved every second of it. She's deep in a nature documentary right now in which Morgan Freeman breaks down the concept of time as it relates to the birth and development of chimpanzees. I didn't think those two things were really that related, but Mr. Freeman is making an excellent case.

This week was productive overall, but a bit frustrating. I started working on a first draft of a business plan and spent many frustrating hours trying to come up with a name for the company. Turns out naming a company is a lot harder than it seems.

I'm not sure I shared it yet or not, but my brother and I are going to form and build this company together. It makes me feel so confident and fulfilled knowing we'll have each other to lean on throughout this process. Also, we'll get to work together day-in and day-out. Doesn't get much better than that! He and I had our first official company meeting this week during which we defined our roles, divvied up high-priority tasks, and brainstormed some more names together. We have a solid game plan for the next couple weeks and I'm really excited to kick things up a notch now that he's fully involved!

So, about the naming thing. Romeo was wrong. When he argued that the names are irrelevant, he was obviously not trying to name a company that does not yet exist. I really underestimated the difficulty of coming up with a name. There are a number of things to consider and I only had a couple top of mind when we started the naming process. I did some research as it got more difficult and I was able to better understand the criteria for an effective, fitting name for a company, which was helpful. The best article I found was on Forbes. You can find it here. I summarized the most necessary criteria into four questions to ask of each potential name.

More often than not we would come up with a name that would answer yes to two or three of the questions but fall one or two yeses short of being a viable option. The biggest challenge was coming up with a name that checks all the boxes but is also unique enough to be available. We came up with countless names that we loved only to search them on google or in the local government database and discover that another company is already using the name. UGH.

I wish I could report that after coming up with upwards of thirty possible names that we landed on one, but we haven't quite yet. We do have a shortlist of three to five names that we plan to really test this week though. We also connected with an up-and-coming brand manager in hopes that she can help us iron out the name situation and some of the next steps necessary to continue crafting our company brand. I’m very excited to hear her ideas.

I look forward to finalizing a name for the company (hopefully!) this week. If we land on a name, I'll announce it in next week's post! If not, I might beg for reader suggestions. TBD. In the meantime, I’m going to finish the first draft of this business plan.

Wishing you clarity,

Will

P.S. The name Will Barnes is an alias. As mentioned in my first post, I can’t leave my current job until I have another comparable stream of income and I’d like to prevent my boss from firing me first. Please don’t seek out my real identity. I will reveal myself when the time is right.

You can reach me via email at [email protected] or on Twitter, Instagram, and Threads @BosslessBlog.

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