It’s only a 4 letter word

When Jeoff & I were setting up The Squared Group, group was an obvious part of the name as we wanted a name that would act as an umbrella for a number of operational companies. First thing to check. Was this name available at Companies House, the UK body that holds information on all registered companies in England, Scotland and Wales?

Companies House have quite a task actually, as there are over 2m companies registered in Great Britain and over 300000 new registrations each year. And that doesn’t include people in business as sole traders, partnerships and unofficially. These statistics alone show what an active, entrepreneural economy the UK is. Unfortunately, the government often seems to want to handicap that desire to achieve – but that’s another story, don’t get me started!

And unfortunately, Companies House didn’t think we were a group.

We needed to ‘prove’ we were a group which for a non-operational start-up was not going to be easy. Companies House will only approve ‘group’ names if there is evidence of a parent/ subsidiary realtionship. In the end they accepted the choice of name because we had registered a number of domain names, all with the ’squared’ element involved and all registered to The Squared Group Limited as owner of the names.

Interestingly, in Great Britain there are a number of protected or sensitive words when it comes to naming a company. You cannot just call yourself Royal for instance – our Queen will have a say in this one. Nor can you suggest a national or international size of operation without supporting evidence. Use of the words British or European would not just go through on the nod. And if you want to call yourself The Sheffield XXX, Companies House may consult with the Company of Cutlers of Hallamshire.

So here’s the interval…sorry no ice-creams or popcorn.

The Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire was incorporated in 1624 by an Act of Parliament. The local cutlery industry in Sheffield was though already over three centuries old. The Act of Incorporation gave the Company jurisdiction over:

‘…all persons using to make Knives, Blades, Scissers, Sheeres, Sickles, Cutlery wares and all other wares and manufacture made or wrought of yron and steele, dwelling or inhabiting within the said Lordship and Liberty of Hallamshire, or within six miles compasse of the same….’

For almost four hundred years, the Company has maintained the standing of Sheffield’s metal-related industries, both at home and abroad.

But now back to the main event.

More difficult than convincing the authorities to let us be a Group was finding a name that could be carried through to the subsidiaries when they were eventually set up and that in all cases were available as web names. And that were available as .com as well as .co.uk?

Even back in 2002 we had realised that as use of the internet for commercial purposes grew, as it undoubtedly would, for us to be taken seriously as a global player .com was more important than .co.uk How many people outside of the UK would think to use .co.uk rather than .com

.com is a global currency just like the $.

And so we ended up with The Squared Group with subsidiaries such as Shop Squared and Travel Squared all with .com and .co.uk

We did though get the choice of names wrong for a while. Shop Squared started as Retail Squared – retail may be what it was about but it wasn’t catchy. It took a while to learn that lesson.

My recommendation – choose names that are straightforward but broad enough to allow for diversity in what you do. For any start-up choosing a name is actually one of the hardest things to do. And probably because of this too little attention is given to it. It’s far easier & quicker to use the first name that crops up. Unfortunately, the consequences even just a year down the line can be dramatic. Eventually you’ll wake-up to how awful your first choice business name sounds. Probably after your customers have squirmed once too often or the uncomfortable faces at your local business breakfast meeting have become all too obvious.

And when that happens you’re either going to have to grin and bear it for years to come or do something about it. New stationery, business cards, domain names + explaining why your old name was so bad.

So spend a bit of time getting it right at the start.

• Legally can you use it?
• Are the domain names available?
• Does it look right on your stationery?
• Will you cringe when you hear the phone being answered with your choice of name?
• Is it too limiting in terms of where you intend to operate and with the range of products/ services that you eventually expect to introduce?
• Are there any cultural or language implications?
• Will it reflect the brand values that are dear to you, adequately?

Whilst, The Bard may have been a great writer, a rose by any other name isn’t always as sweet.

A rose by any other name..

Choosing a name for your business must be harder than choosing a name for your child.

For Mum & Dad, the list can immediately be cut in half at the time of birth if not before. Then the choice is made based on a small number of factors – family names, traditional or modern, meanings, spelling variations and hopefully some thought as to whether the child will be comfortable with it for the rest of their life.

For a business though, the number of considerations may be similar but the branding and operational implications will be far greater.

Unfortunately when Shakespeare wrote the immortal line ‘ a rose by any other name would smell as sweet’ he wasn’t thinking of your business or mine.

Choose the wrong name and a sweet smelling rose it certainly won’t be.

So what factors do you consider for your world-beating start-up.

You could make it very simple and go eponymous. Marks & Spencer, Bloomberg or even our early hero Donald Trump would all fit into this category. But do you really want to be remembered for ever in such an ego-enhancing way. Do you have a name that will sound good every time your receptionist answers the phone?

Sorry guys but Pratt Business Group doesn’t get my vote.

You could go for other obvious choices – local geography or your product name. The West Cornwall Pasty Company incorporates both and tells everybody what they do, make pasties and where they come from. With pasties being associated with Cornwall for so many years and Cornwall being such a beautiful, unspoilt part of the world this choice of name works & works wherever the company chooses to open its shops.

But The Slough Industrial Estate Pasty Company wouldn’t really cut the mustard.

Be honest. If your product name or location isn’t especially interesting then think again about your business name. Then again it hasn’t harmed Microsoft. Sometimes ‘what it says on the tin’ is the way to go but think carefully whether a specific product name or location will be limiting when you want to go global or introduce new products.

Of course, now, with so many businesses based on or around the internet we see many names which are definitely not found in the Oxford English Dictionary or on any map anywhere.

Internet businesses seem to be determined to out do each other right from the start – never mind the product, a game of ‘our name is weirder than yours’. But for many it works. A name like Google whilst having a strained relationship to its origin is probably the best known business name on the planet and has one of the highest brand values around.

And all because Larry Page was fascinated by a meaningless mathematical concept, called a Googol, a word coined in the 1920s by 9 year old Milton Soratta for the number 10 to the power of 100 ie a jolly big number!!

Legend has it that Larry & his co-counder Sergei Brin intended to use the correct spelling, Googol, but early investors had an attack of the mis-spellings and so Google was born!

Lesson for (most) start-ups. If you want people to spell your business name correctly then choose one that most people can spell!

But in the end does it really matter what name you choose?

In the early days probably not but as you grow and your name becomes entrenched, trying to change it because of some perceived shortcomings will prove difficult.

Better to start with a name that means nothing but in the end can mean whatever you want it to mean and whatever your customers eventually associate with it. And of course, choose a name that you and your staff don’t mind answering the phone with.

In the next blog I’ll briefly look at some more specific legal and operational factors affecting your choice of name but in the meantime let me know the worst business names you’ve come across? And if you know why the name was chosen, so much the better?

Just Imagine..

The low down on last Friday’s meeting with Roark.

I didn’t get to see the famous Q Top in the flesh – forgot to ask as our meeting went off on so many different tangents. But Roark does have a web site now dedicated to the Q-Top www.qtop.co.uk
and the more I look at it, the more I think that it is a worthy product. Once you get beyond the unfortunate shape and the fluorescent green colour, you start to realise it does serve a purpose. Keeping cucumbers fresher for longer. When you see some of the strange products for sale on home shopping channels and in homeware shops, you realise there may be a small corner in the kitchen for the Q Top.

Let me know what you think? Were the Dragons right to dismiss it?

So onto the meeting itself.

It was great to meet someone with such a positive but slightly off-beat take on the world. Roark is a genuine ideas man but has a vision – sees the end game for so many ideas and how to bring those ideas to market. Roark’s passion is not just about his own ideas but also about helping other would-be innovators and inventors bring their ideas to life.

So many people have great ideas but no idea how to get them started. Roark brings his own commercial expertise and ability to find the right contacts and partners to the situation. All too often a good idea dies because its creator doesn’t know where to obtain the right help. Roark provides that help.

But there is a method to his madness. Any ‘ideas business’ must have a way of filtering out ideas to leave the handful that are worth spending time, effort and money on. The scatter gun approach rarely works although this method is often adopted by other companies that claim to bring ideas to life.

And over time Roark has realised that the inventor’s own committment is probably the best filter.

Bringing an idea to life or indeed establishing any business is as much about the people involved as it is the product.  Ask the Dragons. Sometimes the product has potential but not in the hands of the person currently holding it. Sometimes the inventor is better off passing the idea on, recognising their own shortcomings and just settling into to the routine of the regular royalty cheque.

But we all have our pride. And we all know what’s best. Don’t we?

So the afternoon with Roark was a great success. I’m sure we’ll work together on some ideas and provide feedback to each other on others.

And  of course if you have an idea why not give Roark a call. He won’t mince his words but it could be the best call you ever made. Contact him via his Just Imagine web site www.justimagineuk.com

The Great Q-Top

Just to sidetrack for a moment. On Friday, I’m meeting with a great ‘ideas man’ Roark McMaster who had the whole panel of ruthless investors in fits of laughter when he appeared on BBC TV’s Dragons Den programme with his Q Top – keeping cucumbers fresher for longer!

If you watch this You Tube clip it won’t be long before you share the same feelings as the Dragons.

Even Roark would probably admit the idea was ridiculous but Peter Jones sensed something more to Roark than just classic British eccentricity. Roark walked away without the investment he was looking for but with a job offer from Peter in his back pocket!

And Peter was right. Through Roark’s company Just Imagine UK he is bringing to life some great ideas both of his own and of other wannabee world-beaters.

I’ll let you know how our ‘ideas summit’ goes.

The world is Square

When Jeoff and I were setting up our business quite naturally one of first thoughts was the company name and how that would fit with our desire for world domination spread across a variety of businesses and products.

We were looking for a ‘group’ name but one that would enable a brand to be established via the operating/ subsidiary companies all of which would (if possible) have a clear name connection to the group.

If that makes sense, well done! Probably though it will make more sense if I explain how we ended up with The Squared Group Ltd or T2G for those who like TLAs.
Jeoff and I share the same initials – JH – which with a very easy jump in imagination led us to JH Squared (if I knew how to add symbols this would end up as JH(now imagine here a raised but tiny 2) which would have more impact – but you get the jist)

So there we have JH Squared (eponymous branding) but that didn’t allow for individual businesses operating in travel, retail, consultancy, design etc – JH Travel Squared, JH Shop Squared were a bit too long for most people. But Travel Squared, Shop Squared, Shape Squared (this was the design side but shape ie shape your identity through web, logo etc.., sounded a bit more funky than the standard design) had more of a ring, were easier to handle and importantly were also available as domain names and company names.

So there we have it. The Squared Group Ltd, a holding company for a number of subsidiaries all bearing the Squared bit and reflecting the line of business in which each operated. Just what it says on the tin.

And for the branding gurus – Squared also suggested exponential power, which Jeoff liked as it fitted with his favourite tag line – individually strong, collectively formidable. Squared also suggests something complete although the comparison with boxed was a possible negative. Standard and normal rather than creative and imaginative? – we could live with that.

And The Squared Group Ltd sounded grand , important – something to be taking seriously, something with a history even if it was just another start-up in reality.

So what happened to the JH bit.

Well, long-term the intention was that JH Squared (which incidentaly was never set up) would be our personal investment vehicle in both The Squared Group but also other actvities or businesses that didn’t fit under the Squared banner.

Right from the start we had a structure in our minds, even if we didn’t know the full range of businesses that would bring that structure to life.

In one sense, I suppose the ‘group structure’ was our vision. This structure would allow us to venture into all sorts of activities that could benefit from being part of a group brand but still being able to establish their own identity.

Does that make sense? Maybe not & we’ll never know if it would have worked but even now there does seem to be a degree of logic about it.

What’s In a Name?

After my last posting, I was engaged in a spot of statistical ego boosting ie checking the stats for this blog. Seeing where all of you come from & what you did whilst you were here.

Don’t be too concerned – Big Brother has not yet reached the stage where I know your name, addresses & what your favourite brand of toothpaste is. Just stats showing me how many visitors, which country your ISP is based in & what search terms were used if any to find this blog.

So no need just yet to go into hiding.

The search terms in particular got me thinking, in particular as the last blog was about OICs – what would a Google OIC reveal.

I wasn’t really expecting anything of any significance but lo & behold.

Top result:

The Organisation of Islamic Conferences followed closely by The Options Industry Council. But the one that really caught my eye & would have instantly been recognised by my techno kids was the txt/ chat room lingo for ‘Oh, I See’.

Being dinosauric when it comes to txt language, it took me a few seconds to work it out but it made me think.

Why choose a particular name when starting a business? Is it named after the founder, the main product, the local town or has some clever research and brainstorming been done to arrive at the right name?

Does it really matter?

Maybe a few blog moments spent looking at names would produce some interesting thoughts? We’ll have a closer look at branding later but maybe ‘names’ will start that particular ball rolling.