In setting up my new business, one of the toughest challenges so far is picking a company name. I’ve been (kind of) working on that for a month now, but have really been putting concerted effort behind it for the last week.
Why is it so difficult?
I think it’s because I know I’ll have to live with this name for a long time. In a way, I’m getting “married” to the name and don’t want to make the wrong choice. And there’s a number of relatively vague criteria for this, a mixture of logical and emotional, thinking and feeling, even with legal ramifications thrown in. That’s not unlike many big choices that we’re faced with, on the job or In Real Life.
In the end, the way I moved to a decision was:
- I set a deadline for myself. An arbitrary choice, really, but I decided that yesterday was the day to finally get it done.
- I gathered all my data together, in my head and on paper. That way I could feel like I had all the requirements and possibilities in hand.
- I created some space. My wife and I had a wonderful trip to the mountains yesterday and we had a nice relaxed chat about this. I had no other meetings scheduled, no other distractions.
- I balanced my head and my heart. After all, this needs to be a name that meets all the logical requirements, but also one that I can feel good growing into. That’s very much an emotional choice.
My final decision? Possibilities Partnership LLC. No, it’s not stunningly clever, but I didn’t want that. This name is built on the fundamental philosophy of working in partnership with my customers to build their best future based on the possibilities which exist. I’ll be moving my coaching style away from focusing on fixing problems, toward creating and designing. It helped that I had captured some of these ideas in my business planning, but the name also helps me to make them more concrete.
And yes, being a technoid, I immediately went out and grabbed the www.PossibilitiesPartnership.com website URL. That in fact was a primary criteria for the name – so many other two-word combinations are already taken by legitimate companies and less savory URL parkers.
How do you get yourself through tough decisions?
Congratulations on coaching yourself to set a deadline and meeting it!
Better yet, your company’s name , Possibilities Partnership LLC, captures the essence of your coaching style, person and brand. Well done!
Hey,
I like the name- very coach like- and the reason why most people come to coaching. It’s a parntership focused on potential and possibilities! And even better that the domain hadn’t already been taken!
What did your mastermind group say about it?
Kudos to you! Shawna
Well, since I closed in on this answer in a matter of a few hours, I didn’t actually look to too many people for approval of the final name. But the discussion I had with the MasterMind group, and some others, really helped me to work through it in my mind.
Hey Carl and well done to you.
Might see you in London next month.
JOhn
Even more courageous, it turns out, was announcing the name to all my family and friends! But everyone I’ve talked to has been supportive, no one gave me a horrible grimace. I was kinda worried about that for awhile…