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?
