It's not a surfeit of egoism that prompts many people to build companies around their own names. Sure, there are exceptions, but for most of us the bottom line is that we're selling ourselves. I'd spent the better part of a decade building name recognition and a good reputation, so I quickly realized that any rebranding I did had to reflect those efforts. As anyone who's started a small business knows, you are  your brand.
That doesn't mean, of course, that your company needs to carry your name. After all, there are different strategies and approaches for selecting a business name and creating your brand.
"Branding begins with you answering the fundamental question: Why does this business exist? What is it that you are bringing to the marketplace that is necessary and distinct?" says Mark Schumann, ABC, a principal with Towers Perrin in Stamford, Connecticut.
Schumann advises that people looking to start a business or to rebrand first run an Internet search for everyone who might identify themselves as doing the same activities. This could easily require looking at several hundred web sites—as Schumann did recently with a friend. But it's an important first step in understanding how the competition is positioning itself.
"When it comes to selecting a name, it needs to be something that your buyers will understand," says Schumann. "It has to be a name that will intuitively connect to someone who may be looking for what you do." What you should avoid, he adds, is anything "too clever." For example, someone who wants to make a videotape is probably going to look for companies with the word video in them. "If your company is Corporate Image, you might be great video people, but I won't know that."
What's in a Name?
"We looked for a name that would convey professionalism and that we were problem solvers," says Kate Perrin, president of PRofessional Solutions, LLC, a PR temp agency in Washington, D.C. "And that's much of what our identity tries to be for our customers. When you have a need, we can fill it.
"At the same time, we have a connection to our profession. That's why we have the big PR at the beginning of our company name."
Perrin notes that the name has created unanticipated challenges. "People see the big PR and that often registers more than 'professional,'" she says. "And sometimes they call us PR Staffing [the company's web address] and look for PR Staffing and PR Solutions in the phone book. So we never refer to ourselves in any shortened version."
If Perrin was looking to convey professionalism and problem solving, Shelley Griewahn, ABC, was looking for a name that "sounded prominent, large, and as if it could be anywhere." Griewahn, founder and principal of Cooper Wright in Falls Church, Virginia, explains that she decided early on that she did not want the business tied either to her own name or to a particular part of her business.
 "It came down to: What name can I select that is memorable to me and my clients, that connotes the things I want the organization to connote, and that will be meaningful and sensible for employees," says Griewahn. To come up with her company name, she tested over a dozen names with a focus group of business owners and colleagues. The winner was Cooper Wright. "People liked the blend of names and the fact that it sounded like a consulting firm," she says.
Griewahn points out one more consideration that factored into her naming process. "It will be easier for me to eventually sell the business and for the new owner to take over because it's not tied to my name," she says. "And it's not tied to communication, so it will be easier if they want to add five different practice lines."
Positioning Your Brand
There is, of course, more to brand development than just a name. "Branding is a combination of three elements: your identity, your values, and your results," says Schumann. "You should be able to define not only why you exist, but also the values you bring to your work and the results you want to create.
"The danger," Schumann adds, "is that we tend to define ourselves in terms of the activities that we complete rather than the results that we create."
Good advice to keep in mind. Indeed, once you've settled on a business identity, your next step is to position your brand. Next month's column will look at some of the strategies independents are using to market themselves.
Daria Steigman runs Steigman Communications, a results-oriented public affairs and communications firm that helps position companies, nonprofits, and international organizations for success. She can be reached at +1 202.244.7651 or steigman@erols.com.
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