I've struggled with the name for my business for quite some time now. I've started at least 2 threads here and thought I had finally narrowed it down to Cyber-Essistants (still working on the tag line).

I checked the domain name cyber-essistants.com, and nothing strange popped up. I also checked with my state and again, no red flags. But tonight I did a final Google search and wouldn't you know it, there is a Cyber Assistant Services in Australia (http://www.cyberassistant.com.au/index.html).

I do not want to step on toes or start off on the wrong foot with any fellow VA's. The names are extremely close but we are separated by miles and miles of ocean!!

My gut reaction is to start over and try to select a new name. Before I do that though, I thought I would check in here to see what others thought.

Thanks in advance for your help!!
Karyn

Hi Karyn,

I'd go with your gut in my opinion. I know its hard to start over, trust me I know. Naming was the hardest thing for me! I know you'll come up with something great, don't give up!
Susan

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Susan Mershon, PMP
http://clevercollaborations.com/

They are close but not exact. If you feel more comfortable changing then by all means change however if you are using common wording such as cyber, virtual and such you are going to continue running into this problem.

There is a virtual assistant with the same name as me in Australia. When I found this out I reached out to her for two reasons: to see if she took her business as serious as mine and what she was offering as she is a world away. Please note I reached out to her, it would have been nice if she had reached out to me since I was established first. However, that is part of doing business especially in a virtual world.

When you use common words and phrases such as we have there will always be others too. It is the nature of the beast and you just need to find out how to set yourself apart.

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Lee Drozak
My Office Assistant

I think it's wise to go with your gut instincts. You might want to break down the naming process a bit....this generally narrows things down to a name that best brings out the qualities in you as a VA and the benefits over features that you give to your clients. Have you ever thought about personal branding? Personally, I tend to gravitate towards virtual services that are as close to human as possible. In order to gain clients over a very impersonal medium as the internet, you must be able to appeal to them on a personal and emotional level....I tend to think that personal branding is wonderful in that respect.
Good luck in your naming process.

My only concern about your name is that people will not know how to spell it. I personally wouldn't think of spelling it with an "e". But I suppose we didn't know how to spell "Google" when they first appeared on the scene.

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Sabrina L. Williams
For a bird's eye view of your business

My legal entity is "The Virtual Office Goddess, LLC" If you google "Office Goddess" you will get a company that provides "On-site Corporate Holistic Management", which is not competition to me. (you will also get mugs, mousepads, t-shirts, etc. ) Although our names are similar, we don't really have anything in common and therefore are not mistaken for each other.

My point being that if the names are similar but the location and services are not even close to related, I don't see an issue.

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Lily Chambers, The Virtual Office Goddess, LLC
Author "How to Do Your Own Small Business Bookkeeping"

I agree with Lily. With so many companies in the world, names are bound to be repeated but if they're not close enough to cause confusion or the business is completely different, go for it.

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Sabrina L. Williams
For a bird's eye view of your business

I was going to be Laserdog Enterprises, but there was already a Laserdog Enterprises. He also had nabbed laserdog.com. He's a musician. We've been in touch a few times over the years - I first found out about him back in the early 90s with Laserdog I.

At one point he sold a Pet Laser.

Pet Laser

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Lezly Harrison
Laserdog Productions - Code that Doesn't Bite