self employment company names

[PlumbBobBob]

even when you start paying fees, unless you keep moving banks, you can claim it all back on your tax bill anyway

 

[Keefy]

As for naming your business - try to keep it relevant to the area you wish to find work in. Say, if you're planning to offer gas fitting services in Dingdong Town then call it Dingdong Gas Services, even if a spark in the same area is called Dingdong Electrics you won't have a problem with copyright or trademark infringement because although working the same area they'd be offering completely different services.

Dunno where I got 'Dingdong' from but whatever. Avon calling!

 

[stevetheplumber]

I'm using the free banking with Santander, you get what you pay for! There is no counter service, you have to deposit everything at the cashpoint, can be a pain as the machines don't give envelopes out. I think I've been in complaining at this restriction more than I've used the cashpoint and they end up taking it over the desk, as I say to them, way restrict the money going into the account! Lucky most my customers pay using direct transfer. If I had a larger turnover I'd move to a paid dervice with more features, but for starting out its great.

just get the envelopes and post cheques in i just ring customer services and get prepaids sent to me

 

[stevetheplumber]

ive been with alliance and leicester which is now santander for several years and it free provided you deposit a grand a month any less and they charge you a fiver easy to use there online stuff my personal acc is with barclays and finding anything on that is a nightmare

 

[petercj]

hi all and happy new year !!


well a new year and new venture for me,,, self employment

have set my bank account up etc and need a name for my business, was orignally thinking of just using my name, ie C.Dodds gas heating services or something along them lines but im not sure but should i go for a proper name to make it look more like a bigger business or stick with my name so people no i am a sole trader??

any advice apreciated

As already mentioned, it's worth checking out the availability of a suitable domain name as part of the decision making process.

I have checked and: CDodds.co.uk is available ... you can register it here for 2.49 (first year).

1&1 Internet - Home

It's good practice to get your business domain registered in your own name - it can remained parked up at 1&1 until you need it, e.g. if you get a website designed by a company they can access it once you have given them the passwords. But it will remain registered in your name, and it will stay in your name. You will need to renew the registration every few years, so don't miss out on that. If you register it and don't use it, it's only cost you a few quid anyway.

Once you have decided on a business name you need to make it memorable to the public, and the best way to do that is to use it in the same form on all of your business materials, the van, your jumper, the wife's nightie, the kid's lunch boxes, etc.

The best way to make your company name memorable is to turn it into a logo, such as...

 

[wigz]

My initials are wc so i went with wc plumbing .

 

[Keefy]

My initials are wc so i went with wc plumbing .

I was going to use my surname name but most people pronounce it wrong so it probably wouldn't catch on. Thought about using the Irish spelling of it but that would have been even worse.

 

[PlumbBobBob]

I was going to use my surname name but most people pronounce it wrong so it probably wouldn't catch on. Thought about using the Irish spelling of it but that would have been even worse.

you have gotta tell us what it is now :smile:

 

[Mike Jackson]

I thought about all sorts of different names but ended up sticking with my own as I couldn't think of anything more memorable.

 

[Ray Stafford]

A couple of odd anecdotes about this.

According to some analysis I did a few years ago, companies that traded as a persons name were half as likely to go bust than companies with a set of initials.

So "Joe Bloggs Plumbing & Heating Ltd" is less likely to end up as a bad debt than "JB Plumbing & Heating Ltd".

I can't believe that this is because they are less likely to get into financial difficulty, so I can only assume that people are more likely to choose a route other than bankruptcy when their name is the same as the company name. Personal pride maybe?

A customer of ours who has a mixed contracting/domestic plumbing business recently decided to separate the two sides of the business. He left the contracting side name the same, (which was "his name" plumbing & heating ltd) and created a new trading style called "name-of-his-town plumbing & heating". All the advertising stayed the same, except for the name change.

He reckons he gets loads more calls on the domestic side, now his name reflects the geographical area, rather than his own name.

So there you go. Make of that what you will.

 

[erpkid]

A couple of odd anecdotes about this.

According to some analysis I did a few years ago, companies that traded as a persons name were half as likely to go bust than companies with a set of initials.

So "Joe Bloggs Plumbing & Heating Ltd" is less likely to end up as a bad debt than "JB Plumbing & Heating Ltd".

I can't believe that this is because they are less likely to get into financial difficulty, so I can only assume that people are more likely to choose a route other than bankruptcy when their name is the same as the company name. Personal pride maybe?

A customer of ours who has a mixed contracting/domestic plumbing business recently decided to separate the two sides of the business. He left the contracting side name the same, (which was "his name" plumbing & heating ltd) and created a new trading style called "name-of-his-town plumbing & heating". All the advertising stayed the same, except for the name change.

He reckons he gets loads more calls on the domestic side, now his name reflects the geographical area, rather than his own name.

So there you go. Make of that what you will.

Interesting, we trade as the Bumpstead Building Co-operative. We do great business in the two Bumpsteads - Steeple and Helions but very little elsewhere. Fortunately we don't like to travel far......

 

[R1CKY]

I went with RM Plumbing & Heating, as I hate my first name and there are loads of companies set up with my surname.

Didn't want to use a place name, as I'm willing to travel quite far to work, so didn't want potential customers to dismiss me thinking I wouldn't work in their area.

 

[Keefy]

you have gotta tell us what it is now :smile:

It's O'Feck.

 

[petercj]

It's O'Feck.

Just as well you didn't go into IT then!

 

[michael c]

Been having the same issue myself but then there is a builder in my area called A. Cowboy and sons and he seems to do quite well. Because i have tourettes i considered mr twitch to try spark interest, however i have been advised against it incase i end up doing 100s of pointless qoutes.

Would the place name not work out better due to the ease of people to remember it?

 

[petercj]

Been having the same issue myself but then there is a builder in my area called A. Cowboy and sons and he seems to do quite well. Because i have tourettes i considered mr twitch to try spark interest, however i have been advised against it incase i end up doing 100s of pointless qoutes.

Would the place name not work out better due to the ease of people to remember it?

As long as you don't live in Puddletown!

 

[850Rick]

I just plan to do the plumbing side of things.I though of RK Plumbing

 

[Keefy]

Just a pointer, try to keep any serious considerations for business names to yourself while on a publicly viewable forum until you've claimed the domain name. Not only could someone else decide it's a good name and instantly register it for themselves, they could also put a huge price tag on it. I bought 3 domains while deciding which to settle on, the .com version of one of them suddenly appeared for sale at $30,000.

 

[850Rick]

Just a pointer, try to keep any serious considerations for business names to yourself while on a publicly viewable forum until you've claimed the domain name. Not only could someone else decide it's a good name and instantly register it for themselves, they could also put a huge price tag on it. I bought 3 domains while deciding which to settle on, the .com version of one of them suddenly appeared for sale at $30,000.

eek thats not good

 

[Ray Stafford]

Just a pointer, try to keep any serious considerations for business names to yourself while on a publicly viewable forum until you've claimed the domain name. Not only could someone else decide it's a good name and instantly register it for themselves, they could also put a huge price tag on it. I bought 3 domains while deciding which to settle on, the .com version of one of them suddenly appeared for sale at $30,000.

True. I would love to have the .co.uk version of our name, but for some reason the well known formula 1 racing team don't want to part with it. Miserable gits.