Could use some ideas naming my business

[Brintiff]

I apply various coatings and platings for firearm enthusiasts and car restorers ETC, the two I listed is my primary target audience. I do not have a creative bone in my body, I have been doing a lot of reading and everything I read said the name and logo is a big deal and that it should be "catchy". The only names I'm coming up with is (the city I live in) Specialty Coatings & Plating, not very catchy. In my profile is a lot more information about what I do,

[KMcVey]

Very interesting business! You stated in your info that not many people are doing the chrome plating, so you should focus on that. Also, the name chrome has a lot of power already. You are going to want to start with brainstorming ideas and then checking to see if the url is available (I use GoDaddy). I'm assuming that you don't already have a website. Maybe something like Caliber Chrome. There is a play on words with caliber (referencing both the size of a bullet and level of excellence) Then you can put Specialty Coatings & Plating smaller underneath the logo. (The URL is available for that btw) Let a thesaurus be your best friend.
Hope that helps :)

[huggytree]

both of your major markets (cars/guns) dont have many things in common...

if it were me id do (2) companies w/ 2 different names

i believe strongly that a name should describe what you do.....recoating is what you do, but its not specific enough and there's no way to mix guns and cars

auto chrome recoating
specialty gun coatings

id work a name off each of those

if you choose a generic name like 'bills metal coatings' no one will know what you do.......but if you chose a name like 'striker firearm coatings' or 'bubba's bumper reconditioning' they will know exactly what you do..

i chose my city's name and threw PLUMBING after it....it really says nothing about me....i would have used my last name, but its too long and complex...

if you have a nice=short last name you could incorporate it.....i see nothing wrong with having 2 names and even making a sign w/ both names on it

Pizazz gun coating
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa gun refinishing
razor sharp coatings

[KerryAll]

How about "Brian's Gun, Powder and Plating" ... covers most aspects of what you do..

[huggytree]

i strongly disagree with using a 1st name as part of your business

last name yes, 1st name no

[billbenson]

i strongly disagree with using a 1st name as part of your business

last name yes, 1st name no

How about bob?


Bob's Barricades, Inc. is the largest privately owned barricade company in the country

[Spider]

Couldn't resist looking that up. Are you certain that Bob is, in this case, someone's first name. All I could find is that Bob's Barricades, Inc has been providing temporary traffic control since 1975 under the same ownership of Happy Alter, Chief Executive Officer/Partner and Alan Chesler, President/Partner.

As neither of the founders are called Bob, I wonder why Bob was chosen for the name?

My dictionary reveals several possibilities --

bob = to strike with a quick, light blow - some of their barricades may snap together in this fashion?

bob = to move up and down in a short, quick motion - like putting the barricades and and down quickly?

bob = to move up and down briefly or repeatedly, like erecting and removing temporary barricades?

bob = to emerge, arise and appear suddenly and unexpectedly.

bob = a short, quick down and up motion.


Have nothing better to do on a Sunday evening than read a dictionary!!!!


ADDED - okay! Found it! Bob's Barricades Inc. was formed in 1968 by Bob Brownlee.

[billbenson]

Kind of a nice business. I just watched a video on youtube of a news team interviewing one current owner. The average life of a barricade is about 1 year. The company only has about 40 employees, a number of them family members. There are millions of barricades out there. I bet they make a nice profit.

[huggytree]

using a 1st name makes the business sound small...and local......but also makes it sound low priced ....to me it sounds unprofessional

it has some advantages like anything else....youd have to adjust your marketing to it

as long as you dont choose a stupid name any name will work....a really good name can help and a really bad name can kill your business......most names are blah and dont do anything

id rather put 10 A's in front of a name than use a 1st name

[StefanT]

I agree that unless it's a really bad name ("Poochies Gun Coating & Plating) it will probably not hurt your business to just name it "Power Plating" or something. Look at "Google", who would've thought that goofy name would stick?

[StefanT]

I agree that unless it's a really bad name ("Poochies Gun Coating & Plating) it will probably not hurt your business to just name it "Power Plating" or something. Look at "Google", who would've thought that goofy name would stick?

[SellRex]

When developing our eCommerce package, I had a list of 40 or 50 possible names for the company, where everything on the list was still available as a domain name. I did a top 100 IT company search just to see what the 100 company names looked like. I agree completely with StefanT on this one: More than half the names of the top 100 IT companies have totally goofy names that don't mean anything ... at least anything that would indicate what their products and services are about. "SellRex" was good for me: short, easy to spell, easy to remember, and a nice combination of "sell" and a mascot, the T-Rex.

If you need a little help narrowing down company names based on available domain names, try my favorite free domain search tool: Domain Search (http://www.bustaname.com/)