What’s in a business name? A lot, it turns out

This is the first in a series of articles that will describe the trials and tribulations of starting a business - in this case, my new business valuation, litigation support and management consulting firm.

If I do not get the name “right” and want to change it later, my future headaches could be substantial. Thus, I would much rather be happy from the get-go.

Where to begin? If you are in a service business, such as a consulting firm, many people recommend starting with your own last name. The business will be built upon your personal reputation anyway.

Using your own last name, however, may create problems if you ever want to bring on partners - unless their last name also happens to be Butler, at least in this case. Thus, if I want to sell or bring on partners down the road who would be content buying into a firm with “Butler” in the name, then I will have to carefully plan to transfer relationships to my future partner(s)/employee(s) and/or bring on my children who are only 9 and 6 years old.

Next, you may want to include in the name what service you perform. The problem for me is that Butler Business Valuation is already taken by a firm in Rochester, N.Y. When selecting a name, you would like to have no confusion in the marketplace. My goal is not to merely perform valuation services for Boise clients, but to the extent possible, perform services for clients across the country - probably much like the Butler in Rochester.

While I might have chosen Butler Business Valuation if it was available, upon reflection I believe it would have put me in a box - a valuation-only box - when my intention is to provide not only valuation services but also litigation support (expert witness services) as well as management consulting.

Even though I recognized the issues related to my surname and valuation, I reserved the following Web domain name: Butler Business Valuation. How was that available? This appears to have been a tactical error (if not a strategic error) by the Rochester firm. That company registered Butler Valuation, not Butler Business Valuation.

I believe the search engines may be kinder to Butler Business Valuation since people will search for “business valuation” rather than just “valuation” which could encompass real estate, art, automobiles, antiques, and machinery and equipment, among other items.

Through research (and some luck), I was able to develop and commercialize an idea, a Web application, to better quantify risk for privately held firms being used by domestic and international appraisers alike. Therefore, if someone is searching for me, they might plug in the search terms, “Butler” and “business valuation” (to separate me from all of the other Butlers in the world) and more easily find me if my future Web site (regardless of the ultimate domain name selected below) is linked to these words, in some fashion. That is why I reserved ButlerBusinessValuation.com.

My actual company name (see below) will be linked to the search terms, “Butler” and “business valuation” much better now.

As alluded to above, my intent is to better brand my new company with a memorable name. People may not remember “Butler Business Valuation.” “Butler” is an unprotectable surname, and the words “business” and “valuation” are generic. However, a name like “Valtrend,” for example, is much shorter and, quite frankly, much easier to remember.

“Valtrend” is a slight play on words. “Val” is short for valuation. “Trend” relates to the management consulting part of my practice. When one receives a valuation, the hidden gem of that valuation is understanding how one may be able to increase the value of the business - hence, trend.

Moreover, the Valtrend.com domain name was available. Please note: coming up with a unique domain can be an exhausting and frustrating exercise. Why didn’t I pick Valutrend.com or Valuetrend.com, you might ask? First, Valuetrend.com was not available. Second, if I did select “Valutrend,” future clients may be confused on how to spell value - with an “e” or not?

If they selected “Valuetrend,” they would not arrive at my Web site. For those reasons, “Valtrend” was much cleaner.
You will not find “Valtrend” in the dictionary, just like Exxon, Nike, Google and Accenture are missing.

Valtrend is a unique brand all by itself - which is the idea, as it not only distinguishes my business from other business valuation services out there, but it is also strong and protectable as a trademark. To confirm its protection, I had Brad Frazer, a trademark attorney with Hawley Troxell, conduct a search to ensure that “Valtrend” was available as a trademark for my particular brand of business valuation services.

Brad confirmed the search results were favorable. Thus, I now had a strong, distinctive trademark paired up with my short, easy-to-remember domain name.

There are many “Butlers” in the world. There are many companies with the name “business” and “valuation” in them, but only one Valtrend - at least for a trademark. Down the road, future (potential) partners may be more inclined to join me under the “Valtrend” name than under “Butler Business Valuation.”

When you start a business, you must have the end in mind or at least an exit strategy.

So, that is the name - Valtrend. I may even seek to register “Valtrend” as a trademark with the federal government.

Peter Butler is a principal at Valtrend, LLC. He can be reached at (208) 371-7267 or pete@valtrend.com (available soon).

6 Responses to “What’s in a business name? A lot, it turns out”

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