How good is my business name?

[Venekathas]

I'm a college student starting up a little business for some side money, first I'll start with the name.

PC Vitality.

What do we do? Tell me what you think just by the name alone! We help people that are new to PC Gaming and want to build Gaming PCs. We will consult the customer in finding out what parts are needed and appropriate budgeting. Help with shopping and acquisition of parts. Then we will build the PC for them.

Alternatively, we will also offer PC Repair and diagnostics. The business is geared towards college students, and newer, less experienced computer users.

And tips/critique is more than welcome.

Thanks!

[Harold Mansfield]

Is it available to be registered as a '.com' or an extension that you like? If not, back to the drawing board and find a new name.

As for the name itself, it sounds more like a PC repair shop than PC builders or anything having to do with gaming. I'd probably lean towards something like "VitalPC" or "VitalityPC" if I just had to have those words.

[graphicscove]

I agree with Harold, my first impression based on the name was that you are a PC repair company more than anything else.

~ Steven

[turboguy]

That was my thought as well.

[tallen]

Me three, but note that most of the others are in some aspect of tech so the repair aspect jumps out at them. I see other potential meanings, like a fitness studio (vitality) that emphasizes pilates and crunches (PC). Actually the PC part doesn't really mean much - it could be the initials of the person who invented some new vitamin supplement.

All this to say, you will have to build some branding for your business beyond just the name.

Or how about Vitality Gaming (maybe leaving the PC out)?

For example, do you want the name to be robust enough to survive a transition away from personal computers as a go-to gaming platform?

[Venekathas]

I really appreciate the feedback! Discussing it with more friends and family, I've hit a difficult spot. Figuring out pricing. For the building PC for gamers side of the business, it's a very small market. If I'm an aspiring gamer with 800 dollars to spend on a PC but don't know how to build it, how likely is it I'll pay some random people to build and put it together for me for x amount more than the actual PC. If I said "I'll build it for 50 bucks." That should work. But as far as consulting them on parts they need, shopping for the parts for them, and building, is that same customer going to pay more than 50 to be worth the time and effort?

I guess what I'm asking is, how much would people pay per service?

[Harold Mansfield]

I really appreciate the feedback! Discussing it with more friends and family, I've hit a difficult spot. Figuring out pricing. For the building PC for gamers side of the business, it's a very small market. If I'm an aspiring gamer with 800 dollars to spend on a PC but don't know how to build it, how likely is it I'll pay some random people to build and put it together for me for x amount more than the actual PC. If I said "I'll build it for 50 bucks." That should work. But as far as consulting them on parts they need, shopping for the parts for them, and building, is that same customer going to pay more than 50 to be worth the time and effort?

I guess what I'm asking is, how much would people pay per service?

On the contrary it's a huge market now. eSports are huge. Twitch is huge. I follow at least 3 Hardware/PC Builder/Gaming You Tube channels that I watch religiously. I'm not a huge gamer, I mean I have an XBOX One and play a few racing games on my PC, but I love the hardware.

I just purchased an Oculous Ready gaming PC for $720 a few months ago. Great deal for what's probably considered a starter gaming PC..AMD 4G Graphics, MSI motherboard, Intel Quad Core i5 (i7 was only $100 more)..all the other bells, whistles and some fiber optics to boot.

Added an SSD, and more RAM just to get going. It's upgradeable to 64G RAM, as well as every other component. I'm looking at an 8G RAM graphics card now. (It came with a 4G RAM card). Came with nice accessories, warranty, support...everything you could want far and above buying a "name brand" "business computer" off the shelf for more money and less specs. And I'm just using it for work. That kind of pricing is tough to beat if you're thinking about competing on price...which I don't think is the way to go.

If I was a gamer I could totally justify spending a lot more than that for a really nice system.

I've watched more than a few build videos over the past year. Next time out I'm going to probably build my own.

So I disagree that the market is small, but it's also a DIY market. Would I pay an unknown company to build one? 3 years ago I would have. But today, that's a tough sell. Lot of competition in the space and now the name brands are building gaming computers.

It's going to be time consuming, expensive and require a crap load of marketing to get your name out there and build trust and credibility as a gaming machine builder.

However, I think the market is there and if you're good at it, you could make a go at it by tackling your local market first or finding a sub niche to capitalize on.

JMO of course.

[WarrenD]

It does sound like a PC repair shop to be honest. If you're servicing the gaming market then 'gaming' needs to be in there, directly or by association. But then you may be asking the wrong audience. If your target audience is college students then the best and easiest thing for you to do is just ask around. Ask your peers what they think of the name (give them a few options along with PC Vitality), how much they'd be willing to pay etc.

[thegirlgrotto]

I wouldn't go with PC Vitality because as the others mentioned it sounds like a PC Repair shop...that was my 1st impression anyway. Being that your target customer is college students you may want to go with something a little modern and clean or even something clever that will help you stand out.

[traceywayne]

Yes I would agree with the thoughts of others I think you need something more geared towards your audience, PC Village, PC SoSmart have a good day brainstorming as the name is critical.

[dwhs]

I did that in college, love it. Just be careful not to crash anything. I lost an Author's book once removing the program.

Good luck!

[bizcoachsteve]

I agree with the others; it sounds more like a PC repair shop and would rather see the word "game" or "gamer" in there. But I am not sure it's "critical" to the success of your company. After all, how will you find clients? Likely it will be word of mouth and content on your website. Your referral sources or google won't care about your name. As long as someone can remember it and you have a domain name to match, you'll be fine. I would not stress over the name. Just do it and get started.

[lpbusiness]

Agree with the thoughts of others, the name screams PC repair shop

[Wash & Dry]

If I want it to, my current business will profit around $100,000.00 in 2018 and guess what? Yesterday I had my first person ever ask for the name of my business. I give out several business cards each week and get several texts from those business cards yet no one knows the name of my business.

I had a cleaning company for 19 years, made millions of dollars and guess what? No one knew the name of my business.

And, I've never had a logo.

I do think about this sometimes.... am I missing something or is everyone else wasting money and time on these things? Well, all I know is that I've made a lot of money by not promoting either. For the record, all of my businesses did have names.

I passed a building today and the huge sign read: Smith & Nephew. If no one knows what that means, what is the purpose of having it? Attorney? Movers? CPA? Outhouse cleaners? Porn studios? Ooohhhh, I know, because everyone always says that you must have the name of your business on the building.

Moral of the story.... a name or logo will never make or lose you 1 penny.

[tallen]

If you are operating as something other than a sole proprietor (e.g. partnership, corporation, LLC....), you have to have a name for your business (and let other people know what that name is) so that the people paying you will know who to write the checks out to! (yes, some people do still write checks....)

[bella.lopez]

I really would not select PC vitality. It sounds like a PC repair shop at the most and nothing about the name gives away that it has anything to do with PC games. Also, the game is not catchy enough. Focus on something that appeals to your target audience and describes what you do clearly. Come up with some new names or words even and see which one sounds best for your business.

[journalist55]

I like the name, it is short, catchy and gets to the point.