What are the do's & don'ts of selecting a business name?

[Imamacuser]

Are there recommended best practices or do's & don'ts of selecting a business name?

I remember reading something years back about how words like media & productions carry specific connotations, so it's important to pick a descriptor that aligns with the service that you offer.

I see a lot of people using their surname, but I think my Nordic surname would be a poor choice, as nobody can figure out how to pronounce or spell it. I'm also averse to using my name because, I perceive people who name their business after themselves as unoriginal narcissists; perhaps that's unfair, but it's my gut reaction. It also implies one-man-band, which isn't conducive to growth.

This question is precipitated by my day job corporate AV support contract ending in August, and I may pursue video production in earnest as a full-time business.

 

[rob norton]

What will your business do?

I would specialise. Assuming it’s corporate video, being an industry agnostic generalist waiting for the phone to ring will end in tears. IMO people think more in terms of deliverables and having a production company is nowhere near the selling point it once was. These things all might help you choose a name.

 

[DustinSchmidt]

If you start with one name and decide it's not working for you later on, or you grow out of it and want to move into being perceived as a bigger entity/business, then you can just file for a DBA "Doing Business As" and come up with something new.

Certainly worth considering from the get-go, but not a huge deal to pivot later.

 

[Imamacuser]

I've mainly freelanced, shooting events (concerts, workshops, weddings, etc), but I'd like to make commercials for web & local OTA TV. My client base would probably be small to medium sized businesses, as large Iowa corporations hire production companies out of neighboring Chicago Illinois.

Rob, how granular should specializing to an industry be, e.g. exclusively making commercials for senior living centers, rather than making a coffee shop commercial one week & a dentistry commercial the next?

 

[Alex H.]

Keep your production business name or DBA short, unique, and recognizable.

You'll find all sorts of things out there. Yes, people use their surnames. I don't think that's narcissistic; for some people, their name is their brand and that's fine. Lucasfilm, Chuck Lorre Productions... some of these become very notable. I also think that surnames can be used effectively if you're presenting more as a firm or an agency.

But then there are production company names that have unique stories behind them. Skywalker Sound, obviously, has a pretty notable source for the name. UBU Productions (for any of us 80s kids out there) was named after the founder's beloved dog. Rob Reiner was a fan of Stephen King, and named Castle Rock Entertainment after the fictional Maine town that King has used many times. Spielberg's first commercially-released film, "Amblin'", is the namesake for Amblin Entertainment. Scorsese started Cappa Films using his mother's maiden name (it's now Sikelia Productions, using the Greek name for Sicily, from where his grandparents came).

Honestly, make it your own, and make it something that you feel represents you. Your name, a meaningful geographic location, a family story... or something completely new and different that reflects your personality.

"Media", "Productions", "Production Services"? You don't really have to work one into your main name. Make it a smaller line of text below, or as part of, your logo. "Video Production Services" or "Full-Service Production" or something like that. Using something like "Films" or "Entertainment", though, carries a very different image of what you're about.

 

[Paul F]

One thing I find frustrating, when doing a search for a company, names that are either a common word or common business name. As an exaggerate example, don't call your company 'Camera'.

 

[rob norton]

I've mainly freelanced, shooting events (concerts, workshops, weddings, etc), but I'd like to make commercials for web & local OTA TV. My client base would probably be small to medium sized businesses, as large Iowa corporations hire production companies out of neighboring Chicago Illinois.

Rob, how granular should specializing to an industry be, e.g. exclusively making commercials for senior living centers, rather than making a coffee shop commercial one week & a dentistry commercial the next?

Can you really make a living working with small businesses? It's easy enough testing the waters before you waste time with admin, website build, branding, etc. etc. which is major procrastination we've all been guilty of. Can you can play the volume game if you're in a city big enough? In that scenario, I definitely wouldn't want to be the one running around, it'd only be overseeing everything at large. If enough small/medium local business would provide the $$ you need then that's great.

The bigger you go from videographer to production companies then agencies, the more abstract a name can be. E.g. look up top agencies in Chicago, they're probably called all sorts of ridiculous names like Pretzel, Arc, Reverie. This is because the cool factor is probably more important than merit, even though the top agencies will be both cool and have the work to justify their position. Generalising, but at the small business owner level, where there's no marketing department, and business owners aren't necessarily too imaginative, some of these wacky names might require they connect too many dots. At the same time, I don't think a lot of small town videographers are necessarily too creative either, which is why there are names like First Name Last Name Media Production Co, which end up servicing the small businesses.

I'm in the process of shifting focus to an enormous industry. Finding work, as well as getting quotes over the line is the worst part about freelancing, when it's an arm wrestle. I imagine finding and landing large volumes of huge contracts with a great strike rate would be quite enjoyable. There's obviously an element of building up any business, but even established video production businesses still spend much more time than they'd like looking for work. This is one of the undeniable positives of a salary job, you're likely just doing the work, not generating it. All this to say it could be worth working backwards to find industries/companies that will say yes and more easily.

Re specialising, one thing I'm FINALLY learning is that cold calling with a speciality is a million times easier than saying you're available for video projects. There's potential for a very real snowball effect where the last job lands the next. Compare this with making a video for a mechanic, then using the video to land a series for a university. I'm sure they'll still get it, but it's nowhere near as compelling as showing an already successful series you did for a different university. You can always do a number of different things, then present and package the specialty as its own thing, while still chasing the generalist commercial work as your own name. Aged care is definitely enough of a theme you can possibly repeat all around the country. I understand not wanting to commit to an area in the interest of variety, but those days are over IMO. I'm no expert with any of this, but I very recently feel like I've seen the light in terms of being happy with a select couple of areas and going for it.

 

[hamburger]

If you start with one name and decide it's not working for you later on, or you grow out of it and want to move into being perceived as a bigger entity/business, then you can just file for a DBA "Doing Business As" and come up with something new.

Certainly worth considering from the get-go, but not a huge deal to pivot later.

I almost see that as a sign of trouble, when a company changes names. It could be interpreted as them trying to run from a bad reputation.

 

[DustinSchmidt]

I almost see that as a sign of trouble, when a company changes names. It could be interpreted as them trying to run from a bad reputation.

I understand where you're coming from, but for a small business like the one we're talking about in this thread I don't think it's a huge issue. If a very large company suddenly changed its name and started going by something else you'd probably ask why.

That being said, there's precedent, from very, very large companies, doing exactly that. Google becomes Alphabet. Facebook becomes Meta, etc. These are some of the largest companies in the world. They changed their names because their business objectives were changing.

But if a small, owner/operator like "Joe Smith Video and Photo" expands to become "JS Productions" etc. I don't think anyone is going to notice at all. Sure, maybe the clients you're already servicing might have questions, in which case it's probably good to have some sort of email or press release announcing the name change and why it's occurring.

But there's so much noise out there, I actually think it's a good thing to have people talking about you. At least they're aware of your existence in that case.

 

[JAMedia]

Are there recommended best practices or do's & don'ts of selecting a business name?

It will depend on where you are based (country), where and what your market is.

Hutchinson Telecom operated as "Orange" mobile phones. With the Slogan "The future is Bright! The Future is Orange!" That was fine until they wanted to operate in Northern Ireland where one side of the Terrorist war was the Orange Order.... It would be be like operating in some US states as Klan Productions.

So think about where you are going to operate and expand to if al goes well.


My Name Media. People's egos love this but it is double edged. It is fine if you are a well known and highly respected person in the industry and people are beating a path do your door. OTOH it also suggests "owner-operator" It also makes it more difficult to sell as a going concern when you want to retire.

Re Job Title... for similar reasons I was told not to be owner, proprietor, Chairman, MD, CEO etc as this also screams "one man band" In my own companies I was "Technical Specialist" or CTO. I was a 2 person company but people seemed to thing there was a dozen of us. Likewise for JAmedia I am "Production Manager" This is because when some one walks up to you when you are on site making the coffee or running a cable you don't want a card that says "Owner" as again that says "one man band".

 

[El Director]

I personally can't stand when people use their own name. Too much ego. I named my company "Pyro Studios" because I love fire, I think it's beautiful, and I want my work to reflect that. For job title on my business cards, I went with "Creative Director", even though it's just me for now.

 

[JAMedia]

I personally can't stand when people use their own name. Too much ego. I named my company "Pyro Studios" because I love fire, I think it's beautiful, and I want my work to reflect that. For job title on my business cards, I went with "Creative Director", even though it's just me for now.

Often it's not ego so much as being very proud of being the owner/boss etc. Of having "made it". They are still scared stiff of the jump they have made and often "imposter syndrome" of being a fake among all the other companies.

You named your company Pyro Studios because you are a psycho People name companies after dogs, horses, wives, a passion all of which could be seen as just as bad by some. Company naming is a persona thing and there is no simple answer.

The only problem with naming it after yourself is when you want to sell it on as a going concern. Though Ben and Jerry seem to have managed it.

 

[morgan_moore]

not read the whole thing but I think 'your name' is the best name not 'Cinekings' or 'Vvideoman' becaseu there are a thousand versions, and not "blue mountain visuals" or "Yellow Snow Productions" or so.

I think when you want 'sam morgan moore' you will find me (google imdb or whatever) because I been that for years.

 

[Dante Yze]

Are there recommended best practices or do's & don'ts of selecting a business name?

I remember reading something years back about how words like media & productions carry specific connotations, so it's important to pick a descriptor that aligns with the service that you offer.

I see a lot of people using their surname, but I think my Nordic surname would be a poor choice, as nobody can figure out how to pronounce or spell it. I'm also averse to using my name because, I perceive people who name their business after themselves as unoriginal narcissists; perhaps that's unfair, but it's my gut reaction. It also implies one-man-band, which isn't conducive to growth.

This question is precipitated by my day job corporate AV support contract ending in August, and I may pursue video production in earnest as a full-time business.

Go abstract or evocative rather than descriptive, something that sounds like a studio or agency, doesn't box you in if your services expand, and gives you room to scale without rebranding. Main don'ts: avoid anything too clever that clients can't Google, and check that the domain and social handles are free before you get attached.

 

[paulears]

Alphabetical, memorable, easy to spell, distinctive and you of course have to make the decision to have an abstract, or descriptive name. For example, if you did audio, you could have Alpha Audio - which ticks loads of boxes, AA gets you near the top of listings, the Audio bit is a describer, and alpha has powerful connotations. I think I probably got mine wrong thirty years ago. At the time, we were renting lots of wireless audio gear, and 'East Anglian Radio Services' sounded good, and this worked for being known as EARS, and that then morphed into earsmedia which is still in use - but still means that today I have had two phone calls from people wanting their car radios fixed - because I think radio and services gets read as radio servicing. Even stranger, we now do lots of video and stage lighting - which over the years expanded. Looking back, it also means that it's a bit long for email, but we also use the earsmedia name for email. Most people misshear some names too - so we constantly have to say ears media, as in the things you have sticking out of your head. Also the 'anglian' word seems to be difficult for people to not get wrong - anglia and angle often sneak in - its surprising how people can mangle stuff. whatever name you choose, run it past a variety of friends before deicing for certain. Some names are also culturally difficult for some people to pronounce. My neighbours cannot say radio, they always say waydio, the 'R' sound being a real issue - embarrassing when they say it and I snigger.