Using Own Name or Creating a business Name?

Anyone?

Bueller?.........
Bueller?..................
Bueller?...........................

I guess if you want to go after big corporate clients you would be better off with a business name, once you have built up to having a number of employees. If your a local guy doing local work your name would show that you are local and your clients might appreciate that too. I have not really got an answer for you, sorry, it really is personal preferrence I think. Either could work. I guess that is why no one else replied to you.

People do.

Use your real name. YOUR reputation is what will get you clients. Besides, if you're a freelancer, everyone will know it and having a company name and referring to your company on your Web site as "we" or "us" just makes you look like an idiot.

I chose my business name, One Girl Creative, because I wanted to show that yes, my freelancing was a business, not necessarily just freelancing. I wanted it to look a little bit more professional than "I freelance." I have had companies contract me out and they use my business name when doing so. Obviously, because of the name, One Girl Creative, I have no intentions of opening up a large studio with several designers. Just me, myself & I.

I also registered my business name as a sole proprietorship with the department of revenue so it's an actual business name that nobody else in Colorado can take—not that they'd necessarily want to, of course. LOL In Colorado, it only costs about $5/year—very cheap and worth it.

I wanted to use my name, but as you can see, it's hyphenated and people typically have a difficult time pronouncing my maiden name—Maestri—rhymes with Pastry, but people pronounce it like Maestro with an "i." So to eliminate that confusion, I just went with something a bit more professional.

But like everybody says above, it's a personal preference thing. Believe me, I have been given grief about my business name. Some people love it, and some people don't. I guess it's like anything else in design, it's subjective. But I also wanted to be unique.

I hope this helps.

suzanne maestri-walters :: graphic designer

It all depends on the type of work you are chasing and/or if you plan to expand in the future (even if that means taking on just one person or using freelancers yourself). I have traded under both my own name in the past and presently a company name. I don't think it makes any difference to local clients if you have a company name and it is just you, but larger, national businesses are more likely to make contact if they think they are dealing with a company. As for the we/us issue, I just tend to stay away from making those kind of statements. In the UK trading as a company also allows you to become a 'limited company' which has its advantages.

Your name has 14 characters. :)

We used to be Big Dot Design with the domain bigdotonline.com and wanted something shorter, simpler and easy.

Thus, e-zign was born.

We also wanted a name that could be associated with any type of work. Since e-zign doesn't really mean anything, it's up to us to determine what it is that we do. Room for expansion if you will.

This Entrepeneur.com article might help you in your decision:
http://www.entrepreneur.com/startingabusiness/startupbasics/namingyourbusiness/article76958.html

Personally, I am not using my own name but doing business as (DBA) because if business goes sour, then you don't sour your name for future ventures.

I feel that to brand your own name is to get a 'job' but to brand a company name is to be self employed. ;)

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"The price one pays for pursuing any profession or calling
is an intimate knowledge of its ugly side." - James Baldwin

VERY good point, natabasso. I agree with you 100%. When I decided whether or not to use my name or a business name, I definitely opted for the business name (One Girl Creative) because like you said, I wanted to differentiate myself from being just a freelance designer, but an actual business owner or in my case, a sole propriertorship. Even though I work out of my own home and not from a brick & mortar structure, it is still my business, per se.

I wanted it to appear as though I am self-employed. It's amazing how many interviews I've had where the interviewer mentioned my business. So if anything, it definitely looks good to prospective employers and/or clients—one guy actually thought I had opened my own studio. It was cool.

suzanne maestri-walters :: graphic designer

Use your own name. If you become huge corporation, your name will be the name of the company, like the big agencies: Ogilvy & Mather, J Walter Thomson, Saatchi & Saatchi, etc..

Thanks for the comments, it is helpful. Still have not made a decision either way, but at least now I have some foundation for making one.

Trevor

More info on naming your business:

http://desktoppub.about.com/cs/businessnames/a/5_biz_names.htm
http://www.quicken.com/cms/viewers/article/small_business/40189

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"The price one pays for pursuing any profession or calling
is an intimate knowledge of its ugly side." - James Baldwin

I heard of a painful situation of a person using their own name for their business. He desided to retire and sold the biz and his name. The new owner ruined the biz and his name. He tried to repurchase the biz to return his name to good standing. It cost him quite a bit, not only monetarily.

Create a short fictitious name and either DBA or reg it, if you don't reg someone else may use the same name.

dativer (DAmyon TImothy VERbo)
photographer

Until such a point were there is a reputation worth having I'd rather have that on a company I own than my name. It doesn't help that my name is incredibly common and impossible to use for any kind of web presence without bastardising it and losing the effect.

Before you chose, see if you can get a domain name that is acceptable using your own name, if not then it may well make sense to choose a name for the company that is not your own as even with the greatest will in the world, If your name is John Doe and you can't get JohnDoe.com/.net/.co.uk etc then your name won't count for a thing.

Also google yourself and see what comes up, if there is anything negative associated with your name even if it is not you then it could have a potential impact and check if there are any other people sharing your name in the same field of business as this could be a problem.

That is a REALLY good point, plugz. I never even thought of that. It's funny because before I chose my business name, I googled it and of course nothing came up, and my domain (.com) was available. I immediately purchased it. But then about a year after I had my business name and my domain, I noticed other sites that were very similar (i.e. "One Creative Girl," etc.). So, either I acted very quickly and was able to secure my "One Girl Creative" business name, or she just liked the way that sounded better.

So far, I haven't had any mix-ups because of it (knock on wood) but you never know. So even though you suggested googling his/her personal name, I would suggest doing the same for a potential business name that you have come up with, as well. There is a graphic design studio located below me called Toolbox Creative. When I opened up my Print magazine a few months ago, one of the design firms that was featured was also Toolbox Creative. I thought "wow, they're national, that's awesome." But as I researched it more and more, it was a completely different firm (they were located in Washington, D.C. and the one below me is in Ft. Collins, Colorado). Even though they have the domain (toolboxcreative.com) there still could be that potential mix-up.

Just another suggestion among the many. Good luck!

suzanne maestri-walters :: graphic designer

Steve Wynn is a PRIME example in my opinion... He's built so many projects and ventures as the principle, often using different names and entities. After some of the problems he went through in Vegas, he came back and had the Wynn Hotel and Casino built. It originally had a different name, but then he got the last laugh when he decided "this time I'm putting my name to it!"

the point is, build a reputation first. Then put your name to it. If at first you don't succeed, try try again. If it works out for you and your name becomes recognizable, then use it. Wynn became a HUGE name in the casino industry, and now he's got the last laugh.

that's just my two cents.. maybe i can play them in a penny slot now.

Just curious what sort of legal trouble a Freelance Designer could get himself into?

You never know when a designer inadvertently creates/designs something that was copyrighted elsewhere. That designer could get sued—NOT the client that demanded it, but the designer. It's the designer's responsibility to ensure that this sort of thing doesn't happen. To protect both the designer and the client from future misunderstandings.

suzanne maestri-walters :: graphic designer

Whether or not you use your name, or a company name, your clients will be dealing with YOU. So all these questions of liability and reputation have nothing to do with what name is on your business card. If you're a crappy designer people will know it, regardless of what name goes on your Web site or business card. Sure, you can "hide" behind a company name from people who don't know you, but the minute you speak on the phone or meet them in person, you're going to give them your name... and then the jig is up. If they've heard of YOU, they won't hire you no matter what the company name is.

If you go by a company name, you are more or less forced to do it legally. In other words, you'll have to apply for a business license and pay taxes on everything if you expect to open a bank account in the company name or have checks payable to the company name, etc... You can do this as a DBA, but it's basically the same rules. It's quite amateur to have "XYZ Design" on your Web site, biz cards, letterhead, invoices, etc.. and then ask them to make checks payable to "Joe Schmoe." Having a DBA gives you none of the tax advantages of a full LLC or .Inc business, so why bother???

In order to avoid legal liability, you have to set up a LLC or other full company. Setting yourself up as a DBA does not release you from liability.

If you have other designers working with you, do you expect the client to write several checks for one job??? Of course not. They are going to write one check - TO YOU - then you pay the people you contracted to do the work. So again, it doesn't really matter what the name is and it certainly doesn't have to be a company name. The client doesn't care WHO screwed up their job - they hired YOU and you're the only one they're going to be pissed off at - regardless of the company name.

And the bottom line is this. People hire PEOPLE, not companies. If clients like YOUR work, they won't care what the hell it says on your business card or what company (if any) you work for.

See where I'm going with this?

Another thing to consider is fusing, chopping incorporating or adjusting your name into a company name. Smalldon-Canada, TS-Creative, Don Mall Design, etc. Your clients will always know YOU but if you have a clever name based on your personal name, you may enoy the best of both worlds. It will allow a lot of flexibility as to how you market yourself. I think having your name tied to a company tells others you are willing to stake your name on your business. But a company name will also allow you to develop a brand that is bigger than you.

Classic example: Waltons Department Store vs Wal-Mart.