Every business needs an identity, and it doesn’t get more fundamental than a name. A name could tell you everything, or nothing – it can be descriptive, cryptic, creative or fun, but every business needs a name. So when you start out creating your very own business – what on earth do you call it?!

There’s no time

One of my earliest near trip-ups was realising how early I needed to settle on something. I’d had it in my mind to maybe do a few contracts, get a sense of my business identity and then do more of definitive launch. I’d even congratulated myself on taking a pragmatic approach – not to get bogged down in identity, logo, branding etc early on but instead crack on with the actual work and let that side come a little later. But as soon as I started doing a contract, and setting up some of the necessary business admin around it, I soon realised I needed to use something, and it meant I made some decisions far quicker than I expected.

Ubiquitous-ity*

The sudden need for a name popped up in quite a few places, including:

  • Buying and setting up Office 365
  • Purchasing a domain and creating a website
  • Buying insurance
  • Creating a contract
  • Creating an invoice

So even though I didn’t feel ready to commit, I was forced into using something. I, at least, strove for consistency across all areas and a bit of a colour theme to ensure there was a nod to branding. I had got a bit of a lingering frustration though about using a name that I wasn’t entirely convinced about, particularly knowing the additional admin needed to change it over (and likely cost) if I do decide to make a change.

*I don’t even know if it’s a word but I love it so much I think I’ll endeavour to make it one

Is “consultant” a dirty word?

Is it just me that has a bit of cringe at the word consultant? And yes, the irony is not lost on me! I’m not sure whether that’s based on my personal preconceptions, or whether it’s a more widely held view. I know there’s been a wide range of experiences from amazing to awful with the people I know who’ve used them.

I do think part of it comes down to money. Consultants generally charge day rates, or even hour rates, and if you straight compare that with employment income, it can look inflated. See my earlier post on day rates to find out a bit more about how I unpicked all the extras you have to cover as a freelancer and what goes into deciding a day rate. You also naturally lump them with other day or hour rate professions which often are extremely high earners, such as lawyers.

I’ve definitely recognised I had a hesitation in using it. Which begged the question of what to use instead. “Consultant” does helpfully act as a description, a kind of “does what it say on the tin” kind of name. As much as I prefer to call myself a freelancer, arguably that describes how I do the work, rather than what work I do. And could risk potential clients asking “but a freelance in what?”

What’s my brand?

One of the complications I have is the specifics of what I’m going to be doing. The initial plan is a bit of lots of things, partly because that’s my background and it keeps it interesting for me, and partly because I want to be open to lots of opportunities and see where it goes. Striking out from the beginning saying “I’m just a facilitator” feels like it immediately closes a lot of potentially interesting doors. There may be a point in the future where I find a particular niche that fits and sits well but right now, I’m happy with a really broad offering.

However, that is absolutely rubbish in terms of branding. If you’re a specialist evaluator, amazing – wax lyrical about the detail of what, the specifics you can offer, you’ve got an identity that’s pretty easy to articulate. “I can help with most things” doesn’t feel quite as snappy! This was okay until I went to set up a website and needed to outline what I offer, and it took quite a few goes to sound like I wasn’t a complete chancer, writing down everything could think of in the hope it would interest someone.

I’m also starting with a focus on charity because its my background and my passion. I’ve looked at various ways to incorporate that but none sit too well. The charity sector is also known as the voluntary sector, the third sector, the non-profit, the not-for-profit – in my experience there’s not a single agreed term in use so there’s always a risk of alienating potential clients. It’s also potentially another door to close prematurely – would I turn work down if it was from the public or private sector? Probably not.

Am I enough?

Not in terms of an existential life crisis, but as in – should I use my name or something “fancier”? It’s hard to be objective about your own name. I don’t love my name but I don’t hate it either. I’m lucky I’m not one of the many Sue Smiths , so there is an element of uniqueness, and having grown up with it all my life, it’s certainly very solidly my identity. But am I enough? If someone’s hunting for you, using your own name arguably makes you easier to find. In this line of work I imagine reputation and word of mouth are going to be pretty vital for success. If you’re using your own name, does it also make more sense, since you are the business? You’re the service, the brand, the identity, the whole business. It’s you. That’s kind of the whole point of this adventure.

You can’t call a business Peanuts

I’ve deliberated a lot with whether to use my whole name, shorten it, or go with an entirely other name. Where I’ve got stuck though is brainstorming favourite names, places, hobbies, meaningful connections and just plain fun words. My best yet was previous pets’ names – not so great when you and your sister had a penchant for naming pets after food…. Basically nothing really stuck.
Okay, that’s not true. I absolutely loved Blue Llama which came to me out of nowhere, but it’s taken (by a creative website design company, which is quite fitting – I don’t know if I would have done the name justice). It also prompted all of those questions about how I want to position myself – I am hard-nosed straight-laced professional, or am I fun, creative, quirky unique, personal-life-sharing type of freelancer? Or somewhere in between? Because if I use a name that isn’t my own, I feel like I really need to be sure (or surer than I am now) on what that identity is.

Not quite ready to take over the world

Using something that isn’t my name has some advantages in my head – it gives me a little more to hide behind, means my name isn’t so public, I mean if I really get optimistic is it easier to expand when the brand isn’t just resting on one person? My husband laughed at this one and started a long list of businesses that had started off from one named person and had done pretty alright “Sainsburys, John Lewis, Porsche, Ford…….” Okay so maybe that’s not a great point, even if it seems hysterical at this point even to consider my surname being associated with anyone wider than just me.

Probably what it comes down to more than anything else is whether my name is enough – I’ve got a nervousness about whether its “professional” enough. Although the feedback professionally and personally launched since I “launched” my website has been really positive, and just shows how you can have a skewed perspective on things that are too close to home.

And the verdict is

After lots of deliberations, alongside being forced to give a name for a lot of things quite early on, I’ve bitten the bullet and gone with using my full name and the dreaded word consulting. I’m still making my peace with both aspects. What I’m glad about is that now I have something, even if it’ll be an evolving identity where my interests or the work might lead me down a more specific, or even a different road entirely. I’ve got a suitably catch-all name to start me off, one that at least helps in terms of describing something of what I do, and one that, while uncomfortable, highlights who am I. It’ll be interesting to boomerang back to this in a year’s time and see how well it still sits.