Business Names?

I was wondering what business names I might use - any suggestions?

You can reply in fun or in seriousness. Up to you. But, I am thinking of making either a house shop, a fashion business (not for a while, as I don't want to make cheap crap) or a shapes shop.

What could be a good business name for each? Should I use my name or a derivative of my (avatar) name? What types of names attract your attention, and which ones speak to quality? What qualities do you look for in a business, or in a name?

If I end up using the name, sorry I can't pay for it, you can choose a product of your choice once it opens, though, as a gift.

Call your shop Carcanet

My wife is shrewish when I keep not hours:
Say that I linger'd with you at your shop
To see the making of her carcanet
And that to-morrow you will bring it home.

Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors

Pep (The meaning has overtones of bdsm as well . . . )

PS Or "Bosom's Shop" - see Sonnet 24

PPS Without a product focus it is difficult to hang a name on a hook.

PPPS My favourite shopping quote is "Cheaper than a psychiatrist".

Whatever name you choose, I suggest you google it, to make sure no-one else is using it. It may seem a bit premature, but if your business takes off, it can take months to get a trade mark registered - and it would be a bit anoying if you got to that stage and found someone had got there before you.

I just like cool words in themselves, I chose Seeds, I was thinking of an old band I liked called The Seeds when I got the land.

So now everything is Seeds this or that.

These are all good suggestions. Thank you.

Oh yes that was the other question I wanted to ask - Is there such a thing as a Better Business Bureau, or some sort of business alliance, in SL?

How does one find out if a name is in use? Is there such a thing as copyright on a name in SL?

All the sorts of things one would look for in a RL business.

Pep - I am thinking of offering simple bungalow or row houses, working class houses really. For starters anyway. And skyboxes, low prim and to fit small lots. Then I might get fancier as time went on. I like the idea of cute little houses. I wonder though which part of that market is glutted already?

For shapes I would make the typical 'pretty shapes' and then I'm also intrigued at the thought of 'real people' shapes although I don't know how well those would sell. Do people want 'character' shapes or such? Also without being able to make skins for those the look would be incomplete.

Simplest clothing to begin with would be swimwear/beachwear, if clothing creation for The Sims (game) was any indication. Although, it isn't easy either. Smaller scale.

We had a SL BBB - but it quickly became a protection racket and was dissolved. No one really trusts those type of groups anymore but you can go to Groups and type in Business to see if there are any open enrollment ones that look good.

Most say in Sl to name your business your avatar name. It seems to be the only way to protect a business name.

Clarissa's Home made PIE and more..

That's Right Folks PIE!! and more..


Hey why you keep saying and more?

why? Because there is more!!! LOTS MORE!!! and PIE!!!

well now i am craving pie..

well the pie is free so come on down!! FOR PIE!! and MORE!!!

well now i must have pie and find out what this and more is..

Call it "2B or not 2B" then

Pep (Bikinis, Bungalows or not-too-Big Bums)

There is the Biz Owner Network group and a number of specialist groups for builders, scripters, animators etc.

I just googled Ll-animations and then applied for a TM (still pending). Yes, copyright law does apply in SL - there have been court cases - notably one about the use of "Sex-gen".

Clarissa's Classic Creations (clothing)

Lowell's Fine Living (houses)

Clarissa's Creative Shapes (avatar shapes)

Just a few that sprung to mind - try to keep your name in front of the public eye!

Good luck.

PS - edited to add:

Clarissa's Haute Couture or just Clarissa's Couture (high fashion)

House of Lowell (high fashion)

Houses of Lowell (houses)

Still waking up so my imaginative thinking is a bit fuzzy, but I personally prefer names of businesses that either (a) include the owner's name or a part thereof (b) don't leave me wondering what type of business it is - preferably both.

How about (I got) Friends in Lowell Places?

For the houses: Bungalowells

For shapes: Clair-Shaped

.

Penny Farthing?

Your name has kind of an Edwardian ring to it and 'Penny Farthing' is vague enough to let you sell just about anything.

Come to think of it, what do you sell?

The word Couture is WAY overused and almost always not accurate. Anymore I sort of shy away from all of the "Couture" shops.

How about "Clarissadges" ?

Yeah, I kind of worried about that with "Couture." I was going for the alliteration of the "C" sound with Clarissa, but I see what you mean.

There is always Clarissa's Classic Clothing (or insert any other word in the place of "Classic" that fits the style of the clothing)

Hmm.....back to the drawing board......

I agree with what others have said - keep your name, and make the shop name descriptive of what you sell.

For a funny name:
Clarissa's Cheap Crap.

For a shape store:
Golden World Gym
"Such strenuous living I just don't understand,
When in just seven days, I can make you a man." (OK, I had to indulge my Rockey Horror side.)

For just about anything:
Lowell Living
Lowell Living Well
Living Well with Lowell
Living Lowell Well (the well's are too close together in that one)

I like store names that sum up the products sold or the personality of the designer.


"Corner of No and Beautified" would work for all three types of shops.

I wonder if avatar name connections are used too often? If the business name is a little mysterious, wouldn't that be okay as long as you had a subtitle for classifieds or search.

For skyboxes

Eyrie Builds
(Low prim houses and more)
This maybe implies something high up in the sky?

Lofts Aloft

For clothing stores there are all sorts of mysterious names that could be used

Sarabande
Kismet
The Closet
Flair
Dernier Cri (I had to look this up )


For shapes?

Ardent
True Blue
Credence
Credibility
Sure Bet

For all of the above?

Etc. (or Et Cetera)

Okay - I'm not at my creative peak at the moment

Never mind. That is already taken I just found out. Never heard of such a thing until I went thumbing through a Thesaurus.

Personally I would go with something snappy and memorable, as well as easy to spell* (in case someone remembers the name of the store but doesn't have an LM and has to search for it).

If you plan on selling homes and shapes from the same store or area how about:

Abodes & Bodies

Or if you want to run them together to make a portmanteau:

Abodies or Abodees

(geddit? )


*Normally I wouldn't worry too much about names being easy to spell, since most names are. But some people choose names for good stores that may be in a foreign language (Maschienenwerk comes to mind; great store, but I always have to think before I type) and that will end up with fewer people finding them in search.

Already taken; that's the name of Mickey Vandeverre's store

http://mickeyv.wordpress.com/

These are all good; I like several of them. "Kismet" is already taken. It's a very good house and textures store.

Chamber of Commerce is what I was trying to think of the other night. Geez I had serious brain fog.

I had been thinking of "House of Lowell" for fashions earlier; but my fear there was that someone with that last name could start selling things or charging unaware customers in the store, etc. But I think it's too unlikely to let it influence something like the store name. I only thought about that possibility because I've seen many stores which have a sign saying "Do not give money to anyone, no one has the right to sell/ask for money here but me" etc.

But that could also happen with generic store names. Or non-avatar name store names. (Blegh, sorry for being convoluted)

Ephraim I don't sell anything as yet. I plan to sell houses, and possibly shapes and fashions (soon as I can do an adequate job at it - adequate meaning something I'd wear and that doesn't look homespun.) I am fairly hopeless at Photoshop so far...sigh. Houses and shapes and maybe sculpties if I break down and get Sculpty Studio, don't require major Photoshop skills really.

Keep them coming, if anyone thinks of more. Whether I choose any of the list here or not it also might focus my own thinking on it and/or inspire something else in return.

I too like shops that give some clue what they sell but I notice a lot of the no-clue-given names are with the most popular stores. Redgrave? Baiastice? ETD? (Initials seem popular) Kitten or Cat in the name also seems to prove popular. But I'm not planning to make cat or neko things...

Some other things I had thought of

CLARity
Clair Bleu (but I agree about 'hard to spell' - if the product isn't fantastic no one will bother)
Clear Blue is the other option. Lol

But I don't want one that just seems lame and like a far reach. It has to have a ring to it. Sheesh this is hard. :/

How bout..

Jes nes sais quoi ?

That's a little long though. Probably hard to find in search. Maybe just a single word. Maybe a descriptive adjective used as a noun.

Bombastic

Perky