Opinion wantted

[pokemon]

Please Help with Business Name & Slogan

Hi guys / gals

I would like to tap into your collective creative powers and come up with a name, theme , slogan or all three . The name of my company will be "Yard Werks". I did not misspelled werks that’s the way I wanted it. Something to stick in people's mind.

My main focus right now is to develop the irrigation side of the business then add on later or not. We will eventually grow into a full service landscape company that specialized in Irrigation installs & repairs, Landscaping, Maintenance as in lawn care

No slogan as yet. Your help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your help.

Let it flow!.
I was also thinking of a construction theme like a yield or construction Signage that we all see from time to time on the roads. I am open to all suggestions so let it rip :D

[pokemon]

come on people do'nt be shy 23 views and no reply lets see if I can get it rolling.

Name = "Yard Werks"

Slogan= " We measure quality by the yard"

[WeatherMan]

lame

[pokemon]

ok, any one else

:(

[MikeK]

Not Bad,

I believe in one thing and doing it well.
I would choose just one Business activity and just do that.
From my expierence, people that do landscape and Irrigation usually are not too good at the Irrigation part.
It's tough to be efficent and competitive at Irrigation and Pay for parts inventory as well as having all of the tools and equipment around when you only do 20 or 30 Installs a year

[pokemon]

MikeK,

Point well taken

[DanaMac]

Yard Werks sounds fine. It doesn't jump out at me, but neither does my company name. I'm not a big fan of slogans. Especially when they are "cute" or humorous.

I agree with specializing in one thing. Although it has kind of hurt me lately. All we do is irrigation repairs. That's all. No install, landscaping, plowing, mowing, etc. But with our economy down and water restrictions, it hurt me in 2002. 2003 was much better though.

[pokemon]

I understand the point of specializing. However when you go to the local walmart you do not see only one product or brand selling on the shelves do you?

I worked for a company that does Landscaping, Irrigation and now they are starting Lawn Maintenance and subing out the chemical applications jobs and they keep two crews of each the above mention task busy all year long.

So I know it can be done and I am sure others on this forum are doing just that and more. It all depends on how big you want to grow or not.

[pokemon]

Hi DanaMac,

What name would you suggest that would jump out at the potential customer ?

I am open to suggestions :cool:

[earthtool]

Pokemon, your enthusiasm is not with out reward. At first keep it simple,... look for marketing. The names or what ever are cute but service and integrity are paramount.
My opinion is just that.....but you may be dangerous with the knowledge that you acquired at your last employer.
The name is OK, now sit down and write a business plan, stick to it for two months rewrite it (as to fine tune it) and then reevaluate on a scheduled basis.
Your CPA is also a great resource.
Good Luck and keep on moving forward.

[pokemon]

earthtool,

Thanks for you opinion I appreciate it. You're right about the business plan as I speak I am in the process of using Business Plan Pro 2002 to writing my plan.

Thank you

[Raintree Lawn]

Lawn Werks? Doesn't sound very original nor is it an attention getter. Plus the intentional mis-spelling without an obvious tie-in, doesn't give a real professional appearance.

Novelty names can be very effective but more often than not they are just briefly amusing and may not generate the interest you want.

If your specialty will be irrigation to start out then shouldn't your name have an irrigation/water tie-in?

[pokemon]

Raintree Lawn
Its Yard Werks notLawn Werks and yes you are correct the name does'nt jump out at you either. I would have to come up with something else. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you though

[DanaMac]

Like I said, my comp. name isn't much either - Sprinklers Etc., Inc. I passed a Mailboxes Etc. one day and that was where I got it. But it does have "sprinklers" in there so most people know what I work on. And the "etc" takes care of some other work I do in the winter - parttime carpentry work with some buddies who do it full time.

I agree with not being a fan of the "novelty" names, but I don't know what to suggest. Make a list of many different names and run them by friends, family or us. also make a list of many different words from our industry - yard, lawn; sprinklers, irrigation, landscaping, etc, and also a list of works to complement them - care, accent, service, solution, complete, etc, and try mixing them together. example Complete Sprinkler Service.

I really like sprinklerguy's company name - Sprinkler Solutions. It explains everything. they fix your sprinkler problems. Now you can't use that one though.

[greenworldh20]

look, you can call your company 'yard dorks' and have pink trucks with yellow uniformed employees and make mad money!!!

all you need is effective, creative marketing, quality workmanship, and an open line of communication.

thats it. irrigation, landscaping, stock brokers, lawyers, masons, painters...it makes no difference...to succeed you must have 'it'.

'it' can be described in so many ways...how about 'that undying drive to succeed'. to me, sometimes 'it' is 90 hours/week!!!

some of my local competitors have 'it'.

thats it. just have 'it'. sam walton had 'it'.
jack welch had 'it'.
bill gates had 'it'.


do you have 'it'?

another thought...

sometimes, we as small business dudes, dwell on the small stuff, like company names, looks of our business cards, which flyer looks nicer, what logo looks great on our shirts...c'mon, it all small stuff!!!

the only thing i gauge my company on is my net profit. if it is where i want it to be or higher, then i am doing all the right things (or i am lucky as hell). if not, then i need to find what is not working and correct it as quick as possible. b/c we are all here for the money...no one does this for fun...maybe some of us do, but i will bet not the majority.

brian

[pokemon]

You are absolutely correct in your statement and yes I got it 'that undying drive to succeed'

just some times I get hung up on small stuff. I am reserching the marketing angle now while writing a business plan of action