Branding 101

My first challenge was the business name. Our old name was DeWaard & Jones Company. We picked this because I thought that Dick DeWaard (my old partner) would have lots of name recognition in Bellingham, especially since his dad and his uncle started DeWaard & Bode, “The Appliance Giants” many years ago. The net outcome was that we occasionally got calls from people looking for a refrigerator and that the ampersand in our name confused lots of web sites.

I engaged a local graphics artist, Rowan Moore-Seifred and a couple of my friends to help me find a new name. We went through lots of possibilities like ZybByz, Code Divers and Bob Jones and Company before going back to my roots and picking the name, “The Socrates Group.” I used to own a business by this name that my wife and I ran out of our house. I sold the business to a dot com when I joined them as a co-founder, but they let the name lapse, so I could get it back. This process of picking a business name took me the better part of two months, but I had to decide between a name that branded me more deeply as “The Computer Guy” or one that made me the brand. Ultimately, I picked a name that emphasizes wisdom and collegiality, and a name that I simply like.

Next came the real challenge: picking a logo. Rowan made lots of attempts before we zeroed in on the notion of a spiral. To me, this signifies iteration, process and growth. I didn’t have the money to do a market survey and figure out what it means to others, but if you feel like giving me some feedback, click the comment button below.

By now, I was several months into this process and had only a name and a logo. In the next few months, we put together business cards and a new web site. Then we started looking at the real challenges: how do we communicate with our market place and help them see the value we offer?

In The Beginning…

OK, OK, OK… I’ll do it. I will start blogging (sounds slightly obscene) and see how it works. Does that make me a lemming? Perhaps, but unless I dive in and try out this rapidly growing technology, I am just a couch potato on the sidelines. So here goes…

What to blog about? First lesson is that it has to be something of interest to a specific audience. My focus is owners of small businesses who are trying to grow their business. And what do I have to offer? Other than many years of experience in the trenches, I’ll leave that question up to you.

I am going to start this blog with a specific event that happened just over a year ago and write a series of posts that will bring us up to the present. My focus will be on the challenges I faced and the lessons I learned along the way. As this gets going, I will ask other people in my company to chime in with their thoughts and experiences.

Just over a year ago, I purchased my partner’s shares in our jointly owned business. Even though I have done several startups before, I was always part of a team. For the first time, I was now responsible for the entire business. The giddy “I’m the boss” period lasted for a month or so before the realities of the real challenges I faced started to set in.

On the face of it, I have a pretty simple business. We sell consulting time to local businesses to help empower them to use information systems and technologies more effectively. We can help a client find and implement a packaged software solution or we can build them a custom solution. All I need is talented consultants, an office to house them and clients who need them. And there lies the challenge.

If I tell you that I am a doctor or a baker or a plumber, you will most likely have some idea of what I do and where I may fit into your life. On the other hand, if I tell you that, “We empower local businesses to use information solutions more effectively,” the most common connection most people make is, “Oh, you’re the Computer Guy.” I hate that and it frustrates the heck out of me; but there is no single word in our vocabulary that describes what we do in terms that most people will understand.

In my coming posts, I will share with you the process I have gone through thus far to deal with this challenge. I invite your comments, feedback and wisdom. I can use all the help I can get.