My wife runs a successful dog walking company called Wags and Walks. Cute name. I love it. She loves it. She was tired of selling tile and granite, and wanted to just “snuggle animals” as a career…so we built a website, she hustled her face off, and in 30 days, she replaced her income. It was pretty awesome.
And now, she’s making plans on growing it into a doggy day care business, and wanted to keep the name, and just add a byline with “doggy daycare” in it. So she looked online at trademarks and unfortunately, Wags and Walks was already taken. Running the business as just herself and a few walkers, she wasn’t too concerned about using something that was trademarked. Now that she wants to open 10 locations in the next 5 years…that sort of changes the dynamic.
So there we were in our kitchen, and she asked me, “What should the name be?”
Enter one of my strengths: asking good questions.
I am a firm believer that the better question you ask, the better answer you get. And sometimes, you need to create a kick ass question, and you will effortlessly come up with the right answer. You just need to form the question correctly.
So, naturally, I asked the question out loud. “What’s a good name?”
Fred.
HA! Shit question. Fun answer. Obviously, wrong question.
Let’s try again. “What’s a good name for the doggy day care?”
Ashburn Doggy Daycare.
I kept rephrasing.
“What’s the best name to use for the doggy day care in northern VA?”
Nova Doggy Day Care.
“Leslie, are you going to open more across states?”
“Yes.”
Try again.
“What’s a clever name for the doggy day care that will work in any city or state?”
“What kind of name will make people smile when they hear it, and want to come and check you out?”
“What is a clever and FUN name for a doggy day care that will make people smile when they hear it?”
Puddy. Haha.
My wife smiled. She used to call her childhood cat her puddy.
Puddies and Pups Doggy Day Care. It will work here in Ashburn, it will work in Nova, it will work in Alabama. And every time I said it, she smiled and giggled. Yep. That’s the name. Puddies and Pups. Our answer literally came as fast as you read the text. It won’t always, but it did in this example.
Looking for the right name for your business? Book title? Product? Wondering what the hell to do with your life? Don’t just ask in frustration, “Whatt the f*%@ is the right name for this XYZ?!” Start asking the right questions. Form them well. Play with the question. Have fun with the question. And then when you have the right question, ask it. Ask it with passion. Ask it repeatedly. Ask it before bed and let your subconscious go to work. Ask it first thing in the morning. Ask it with the expectation that the universe has been waiting for you to just ask correctly, and the answer is on its way.
Because your answer is coming.
By the way, Puddies and Pups is now registered as a trademark. Don’t even think about trying to take it.