My company name is my name. Troy’s Window Cleaning. I have a good residential business with a pretty large client base and growing. I am debating changing names to more of a proper biz name to gain more biz and some commercial. Any thoughts? One worry I have is that I advertise in 2 huge community magazines (8500 homes) and my customers love me but look in the back of that magazine for my name Troy. Debating on appearing even more professional with name change, uniforms, new website, etc. Thanks for any input.
I would change my name every year but I would not change my number
2004-2010, 4 name changes I believe.
2014 changed our main number (kept old one as safety). Majority are trained now but still get calls/texts at the old number.
Change the name!
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I personally don’t mind it at all. The last 3 glass companies I have worked for were all names. Ferguson-neudorf glass, Frank’s glass and lows glass. It is professional in many eyes.
You want new uniforms or you don’t have any? That’s a must so I’m guessing you are thinking of new ones.
I find that people appreciate the "been in business for 65 years, 30 years, etc…
I say keep it an continue to grow, although
Change can also be very good.
IMO, I like it and it fits the industry.
As I typed this, I realized that I didn’t go with any of that logic, else my company name would be Mike’s Glass. Lol.
Hmmm…now I have confused myself…and probably you. 
Putting your name on the business is never a good idea. Just ask Henry Ford…Harley Davidson…Mercedes Benz…terrible decisions.
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Funny texasrich! I have myself and 2 employees. We do have uniforms already. I just purchased wfp and equipment to expand to solar panel cleaning. The Honda Element is getting to small now so I am buying a trailer. Gonna start designing my graphics soon so that is why I am debating and need to figure out my name direction before season starts in September.
Personal names do work. For most clients i dont think it matters much but for some they do like hiring established companies and may assume your a small timer who may not have as much professionalism. Most wont assume that. However I do find that i lean for more corporate /interesting sounding names when i hire service businesses. If i were looking at a list id call Geek Window cleaning or Paneless Perfection or Birds Beware over bobs window cleaning. But no matter what the name is good branding and image can make or break the name and its impression.
That being said i would definitely change it for one reason. Its easier to sell later. Even if you dont think you will sell it you may. No one wants to buy a company named after someone if they had the choice.
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If you focus on quality and exceptional service what does it matter
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In KC, there is a company called Ryans Lawn Care. They have atleast 30 trucks on the road and I would estimate they do somewhere in the 8 - 12 million a year in sales. Names are worth something, but making a strong brand is whats important.
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Selling is a good point but even like Kyle stated about that lawn care company, that company has grown so big that the name is worth keeping after selling.
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Keep the name and build the brand. Take plenty of pictures for your web site. Some day the old pictures of back in the day when you were small will come in handy if you ever get really big.
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If you’re dead set in changing your name , then do it slowly . Get all the legal stuff , but still leave the magazine add the same way. Change little bye little may take a year or two.
When I used to work in a bank and they used to sell to another bank : they would change everything slowly . First the receipts would print the new name . Then our shirts , and pamphlets , but the building would still have the old name . Then the building sing would change , but all our pens and note pads had the old name .
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I would say most of the larger construction/excavation/property maintenance companies in my area are named after people. Some of them have opted to abbreviate. For instance, “David Manning Inc” is marketed as “DMI Paving”. I see a lot of other three letter names here that I have to assume are also someone’s initials.
If you like your name, as most people do, but are just hoping to sound like a larger company, you could go with an abbreviation, or use your first and last name, and/or even drop the ‘window cleaning’ from the end. Like Troy Jones, Inc. TJi maintenance/cleaning/solutions/etc.
Or you could do like I did ~7 years ago, and come up with something entirely different. I was marketing myself as “Alex Lacey Pro Window Cleaning” up till then.
I like my business name now. But in the grand scheme, I don’t think the name itself changed much in regard to my success. The best changes I made around that time had to do with looking legit. A decent website, uniforms, large signs on the vehicle, shiny cards, etc. All of those could have been done with my name. But I think making the name change acted as a catalyst of sorts, getting me excited to make all the other changes in branding myself.
So a name change might actually do you good, if you allow it to catalyze your overall marketing approach.
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I would keep the name . If you brand it correctly I think it just fine. Sounds more personal than some faceless Corp name. We are re branding this winter to actually go that route. Say good bye to knight window cleaning.
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What’s it gonna be Luke the Window Cleaner or something like that?
Yes. We both feel that the Luke the window cleaner brand has been branded much better than knight . Knight will be completely phased out by next spring. We are taking it slow on the process and when winter hits and we are just down to our storefronts it will allow a bit more time to dive into the project.
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If you take this step you know what it means? You’ll have to wait until retirement to shave your beard. lol
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It’s not going anywhere soon lol. And our new hires will have to have beards too 
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Sorta like men in kilts but with beards?
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Troy should definitely grow a beard. lol
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Ha! I am 50 and can’t grow a beard. My wife says it’s because I am immature! I agree. Thanks for advice everyone. Am leaning towards keeping my name on it but new logo, website, etc.
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