Business Bricks

The best received post on the site so far has been one I didn’t even write: Name Charlie’s business.

UPDATE 1: The editors at Pick Me Up tell me that Ilya’s baby weighed in at 8lb 7oz pounds, and she named her Honey.

UPDATE 2: Charlie will decide shortly on his name change. If you’ve got any more suggestions, post them by tomorrow please.

A FEW THOUGHTS: In Charlie’s case, picking a new name probably matters a lot. Standard Office Cleaning ended up a bad name for an obviously non-standard business. But mostly naming names is overhyped. Al Ries and Jack Trout devote two chapters of Positioning to the “single most important marketing decision you can make . . . what to name the product”, but they’re wrong (in my book).

Isn’t it like saying picking a baby name is the most important decision you make on his/ her upbringing? Aren’t the rules, in fact, the same? (1) Pick something that any kid/ business with any kind of character can make his/ her own. Great kids/ businesses make their names sound great, not the other way round. (2) Make it a name that teachers/ employees know how to spell without asking and other kids/ customers can pronounce.