I have been in business in Miane going on five years which I understand is a relatively short time. We named our company Black Bear Carpentry hoping to take advantage of the local flavor of the name. We have managed to stay quite busy during that time. Yet we still dont seem to be getting a lot of calls for houses. Does the name Black Bear Builders sound better than Carpentry?
Also would any of you recommend setting up a booth in the local Home show? If you have done anything like this could you tell me if you have had success or not?
Replies
I think your name probably has little to do with whether your building homes, swingsets or dog houses. 20 yrs. ago I entered the residential construction field as a laborer for a guy who didn`t even have a company name. All we did was build new homes. I was with him for almost four years and thats all we did, start to finish. I`ts been 16 yrs. and I haven`t built one since. Here in lower NY state, there are very few new homes going up these days. I think it`s more of a "niche" thing. Once you get your first new home you`ll probably be thrown into an entirely different pool. If you have a few connections with architects try shakin` the leaves of thier trees. Just let them know you`d like an oportunity to bid a set of plans.
Best of luck!
J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
"DO IT RIGHT, DO IT ONCE"
Yes .....Black Bear Builders........flows much better.
My take on the whole name thing for my company is everyone and their brother throws their personal name in the company name and how memorable is that? I wanted something to create a sense of what I do and the quality I bring to a job. So I borrowed 'wright' from the old world thereby implying quality, craftsmanship, the whole image thing which accompanies certain words. I chose 'Homewright' as a result of thinking what I wanted people to consider when they bring me into their space to fix or alter their house. Home is a warmer word with more connotations and subtleties of definition than house... Thus I came up with 'The Homewright Company' to entice the first call. Whether it works or not remains to be seen since about 80% of my work comes from referrals and repeats. I hate marketing in general but figure it's a necessary evil in limited quantity. I'm a smalltime outfit and do all my own work from plumbing & electrical, tile, sheetrock, etc, etc, to finish so what my name tells them is I'll come into your house and make it your home the way you want it. Just my two cents worth on the name thing...