It’s not just the A/E/C industry—it’s most professional services companies. Designers, engineers, accountants, advertising professionals, creatives, lawyers—they all love to name their companies after themselves.
There’s ego in this, of course. What better than naming a company after yourself?
But there’s also an obvious business development case. As a small firm, it makes sense to advertise who you are. What better way than to put your (and your partners’) last name(s) out there?
But companies grow; founders retire; new professionals take the helm.
And unless you’re Gensler or SOM or Zaha Hadid—unless the firm has a valuable recognizable brand—you are stuck with a name that no longer does much work for you.
Yes, there’s local market recognition…but that doesn’t help you with new markets or regions. If you’re trying to enter a new market, a firm named after founders long gone doesn’t offer much help.
So why not change the name?
It has surprised me how little this happens in the A/E/C industry.
Aside from a misbegotten sense of tradition or legacy (unless your firm is closing in on a century, I guess), there’s no great reason to hang onto a name.
And yet there’s such resistance to a new name.
There’s one regional engineering firm that made the leap from tired generic name to a thoughtful brand name. The new name stands out on a pre-bid sheet or business card…but industry folks ridiculed it.
Taylor Coe 