Business name

[niccig]

How did you come up with a business name? I want to start a small part-time speech therapy practice. It may always be a side job, but might grow bigger if I choose to pursue that. I was going to use my last name + speech therapy but that is taken. In my state, “speech therapy” has to be in the official business name, but you can file a Doing Business As to shorten it is you want. I might shorten it to “therapies” if ever add other services. A friend has partnered with an OT, so it’s a possibility.

I could do my full name, but my first name is spelt differently from how it’s said, and if I do grow it to beyond me, may be best to not be my name.

DS suggested something to do with Australia, but i don’t want parents to think child will pick up an accent. I don’t have much of an accent anymore. Most people think I’m from Boston because of the way I say vocalic /r/, but it’s only on a few words now.


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[Kestrel]

DH's business name is related to the area where it's located; ie X mountain business, X River Business, something like that. Would that work for you?

[mom2binsd]

I think given your profession, something that includes "Speech therapy" is a must, make it easy for potential clients to find you when they google private practice. Most of the private SLP's I know either use the location "Irvine Speech and Language Therapy" or include their name as you will get referrals from coworkers etc who know you by name "Sally Smith Speech Therapy Services". Keep it simple, avoid gimmicks.

[JustMe]

Of course, there are many different views on how to choose a business name. I was told not to include my name in case I ever wanted to expand, etc. I have found some disadvantages in not using my name, mostly because the referrals I get are to my personal name and it is sometimes hard for people to find me. Also, it is confusing sometimes on insurance and other forms when I am not sure if they are asking for my business or personal name. OTOH, all of these are workable.

Another view is to think about what you would put into a search engine if you were looking for your services. There are other ways to include that on your website, if you are going to have one, but some feel it is super helpful to have that in your business name; for that reason I like that you have to have speech therapy in your business name. I would not include an Australia reference, although I appreciate your son's creativity and helpfulness because its probably more important to stress where you are located.

I ended up going with a name that resonated for me. It makes me happy and it does speak to the clients I want to attract.

[pinkmomagain]

I just use my name and credential as I know for a fact that I don't want to expand beyond being a solo practitioner. It's very convenient. I am my business and clients get ME, so pretty straight forward.

If I wanted to have something more general, I think location would be a good thing to use in a business name -- especially for SEO purposes. Of course that does limit you if you ever wanted to get up and move away from the area.

Something more general could be related to communication/speech (ie. Vox Speech Therapy Svcs) or even more general than that (ie. Excel Speech Therapy, Apex Speech Therapy).

Good luck! It's exciting to be starting your own business!

[NCGrandma]

If I wanted to have something more general, I think location would be a good thing to use in a business name -- especially for SEO purposes. Of course that does limit you if you ever wanted to get up and move away from the area.

Good luck! It's exciting to be starting your own business!

Many years ago, several friends started a psychotherapy group practice that included psychologists, psychiatrists and social workers. They named it after their location (think "Elm Street Clinical Associates"). After a few years they moved offices, but kept the name because that’s how patients and colleagues knew them. Over 30 years later, they’ve been in a variety of locations in the same city but they’ve always been "Elm Street Clinical Associates"!! Interestingly enough, that hasn’t seemed to be much of an issue.


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[niccig]

Thanks everyone. I’ve been advised to not use my name for same reason Justmom mentioned. I don’t know if the business will grow beyond me. After much thought, I think I’ll go with name DH suggested. It’s a place name by us but it’s also a general name so it can be moveable. I don’t hate it, but I don’t love it either. Other names are already taken.

I do need to decide as I have to file paperwork either in my name or in business name or both in some instances for EIN, NPI and liability insurance.


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