Have I chosen a poor business name?

I am in the planning phases of a software development services business. The business will target government contracts with small business set-asides. We will not target the consumer market or small business market.

It is not too late to change the name because the business hasn't actually launched. Other than a domain name, web server, and mail server there won't be much work in changing.

The name is "CoderBrigade". I see both positive and negatives to it. First the positive. It is early in the alphabet. It is easy to remember. I own the domain name. Good domain names are hard to come by. It describes what we do.

The bad points, courtesy of my wife:
1) sounds militant
2) Misleading; a brigade is usually a large organization. We are not.
3) "Coder" is not a respected title, as Software Engineer, etc
4) She doesn't think it sounds professional

If you had the chance to pick a business name from the beginning, would you change what I have or go with it?

Hi,

Choosing a business name is a very important aspect of starting a company. A few years ago Verizon spent millions of dollars to come up with its name, but many new business owners take this lightly. Changing the business name later can be extremely costly so it is definitely best to choose a good one from the start.

All that said, I really don't like "CoderBrigade". I am not too concerned with point 2, but the others are all extremely valid. The biggest strike against the name is the fact the name is completely non-descriptive. I feel you should definitely have either software,development, consulting in the company name.

Hope this helps

Business names do not realy matter much as long as there is credibility in service. However in business venture, you should consider the advise of your wife.

If there are other names available, consider them. If there are none, go ahead and do business. These days, people do not buy names, they buy products and services that are well delivered.

It doesn't do it for me, but then again, there are thousands of company names that make me wonder what they were thinking.

Since you are only after the small business set-asides, your name is really fine. In fact, I like it.

Have you gotten a GSA contract in place yet? Be sure to include your service listing online on the GSA Advantage website when you do.

Best of luck.

Listen to the wife.