So my last name is Kowalczyk. It's Polish. Customers constantly spell it wrong - Kowalchick, Kovalsik, Kowalcheck, etc. I run a small landscaping business and it's getting embarrassing when they try to write checks or look me up online. I've been thinking about using a simpler business name but I don't want to completely abandon my family name. Any advice on how to handle this?
Branding
My family name is difficult for customers to spell
Honestly, just pick a business name that's easy to spell. Your family name doesn't have to be in it. Nobody will think less of you.
My last name is Smith and people still misspell it. You can't win. What matters is hhaving a website and Google listing that's findable even if they spell it wrong. Get all the common misspellings as domains and redirect them. That's what I did.
That's a good idea about the domains. I hadn't thought of that. Did you buy multiple domains for your business?
Yeah, I have like five. Costs me about $60 a year total. Worth it for the peace of mind.
You could also just spell it out phonetically on your business Cards. Like 'Kowalczyk (ko-VAL-chik)'. People appreciate that.
That's a lot of work for a landscaping business. Just call it 'Green Acres' or something. Problem solved.
If you're getting checks written to a misspelled name, that's a banking problem. My bank won't cash a check with a name that doesn't match my account. How are you even depositing these?
I have a DBA (doing business as) set up with a simpler name, but I still use my legal name for contracts and invoices. It's a mess. Maybe I should switch everything to the DBA.
There you go. Use the DBA. Why did you even keep your legal name on invoices?
I would. But also, keep your legal name for legal stuff. Just use the DBA for all customer-facing stuff. And get a Google Business Profile with the DBA. That's the biggest thing for local search.
Honestly, you're overthinking this. Just pick a name and stick with it. Customers won't care as long as you do good work. And yes, get the domains.