Business name

I was posed a question thru e-mail about how I picked out my business name.

This is a very important choice that one must make when you are starting out in the industry.

This name is what you will be represented by, what you will be known for.

How do you pick this life changing name for yourself?
Where to begin?

Here are a few tips I would suggest thinking about before making the big decision:

• Do you plan to only breed specific animal types, or general reptiles over time?

• This is something that I decided to keep general. "Herps" refers to all reptiles, while if I had picked "Ball Pythons" or something along those lines, it would be tough to represent myself as someone who breeds anything other than that particular animal. 
• I know a friend that is branching out from Leopard Geckos, and the business name is specifically gecko related. Do people know that this breeder has Ball Pythons or Boas? No, they wouldn't know that by the name. 

• Do you want to keep it in the family, your first name, or something that means something to you?

• I didn't do "Wong's Reptiles" (not that that sounded very interesting to me) because I realize that I could change my name at some point. I also didn't want to be like everyone else, so I wanted to be a bit more creative. Heather will always be my name, as well as it being pretty cute with another H attached to it.
• I wanted to do "Regal Reptiles" because my dog's name is Regal. That was taken, and it also has a secondary meaning, associated with the Royal Python, ie. Regal... It was a good idea at the time.  
   
• Once you decide what you want to do, GOOGLE it. Make sure someone else isn't already using it!  

• This happened with me and Heather's Herps back in the day. When I decided I wanted to use it, I bought the domain name and did a bit of research. Unfortunately for me, there was another Heather in Canada that was using the name and was selling Corn Snakes. She was not into it big time, so I chose the polite way and e-mailed her suggesting that she change her name since I was the owner of the domain name to prevent any confusion. After several e-mail exchanges and a few heated words, she changed it. I've been checking in on that since that happened, but after less than a year, she disappeared. 
• I google my business name a few times a year just to make sure there aren't any other people that may be attempting to use my name in any way other than positively associated with me. 

•  Do something that sounds good to you! 

• You will be the one that will be using it for as long as you are in the industry, so I hope you pick something you like!
• Pick something that people will remember. People will remember you, people will remember your business name, but only if it is clever enough to matter... Joe Shmoe will remember you at a show only if you are recognizable and worth remembering. A catchy name will help the situation! 

• You can change your name, but it will be hard... 

• Don't count on being able to change your name. You can do it, but at the expense of all the time and effort you spent while under your current name. Bottom line is, try to figure something out that will keep forever.

So I hope this helps!!! 

Good luck picking your name, and I'm sure I will be seeing you and your business name around eventually.

Have a fantastic day, my friends!