Company name

[danio]

I'm a contracting newbie and looking to register my own company.

What kind of company name do people go for? Something serious (& boring) like <surname> Limited? Or some kind of off the wall name? And what about adding consulting, development or similar to the name?

I know it doesn't matter too much but I'd like to hear your ideas...

Danio

[Bovvered]

Name

Most contractors, IMHO, have crap names, Such as Mike Systems, John Java, Chris Consulting. What a load of crap. Go for something big and corporate, make yourself sound bigger than you actually are...helps if you start pushing your own wares as opposed to just contracting. Plus it's more glamorous

[ratewhore]

you're gonna have to live with it for a while so think carefully. Also, what kind of company branding do you want it to reflect?

[cojak]

Choosing a name for your company is easier said than done. Take a look at the Companies House website to see what's already taken.

Anything with "Consultancy" in it is always a good idea.

[WageSlave]

That all depends on how good your name sounds. 'Willy Tessler Consulting Ltd' isn't very convincing. Once worked with a Rev John T Hawkins; fantastic name. "Hawkins Consulting" sounds pretty good.

Personally I like names such as Liberation Consulting, Photon Development Ltd, etc.

My own company is called 'Sloppy Seconds Entertainment Ltd'.

[The Lone Gunman]

Its a bit paranoid, but someone from another place suggested avoiding using consulting or software in your name as it flags up your company easily when the IR35 bloke does a search on companies house.

He is not likely to search for Daffodil Ltd. is he.

[Bovvered]

Its a bit paranoid, but someone from another place suggested avoiding using consulting or software in your name as it flags up your company easily when the IR35 bloke does a search on companies house.

He is not likely to search for Daffodil Ltd. is he.

I agree to avoid using consulting...I have software in my name but that is because my company is a software house...

[WageSlave]

Yes, but you're stuck if you are a consulting company

[malvolio]

I am a consultant (of sorts), but MyCo's name ends with "Services", which is a sort of compromise.

Other thing to avoid is having an "L" in it - the website name and email are both MyCo.com, using the intiials of the full name, but the number of times I get people looking for something with a number 1 or an "i" in it is a pain. And yes, I tried using uppercase but it looks really messy on the business card.

[Hiram King Of Tyre]

My accountant advised avoiding usin contracting or consulting too