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Need Help with Farm Business Name Ideas

 
pollinator
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Location: Dayton, Ohio
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At my current farm internship in Cincinnati, the owner has suggested that I come up with a name for my business during my internship. I am eventually planning on starting a farm business that focuses on selling organically grown seeds to small farmers and home gardeners. Based on the experiences of Joseph Lofthouse selling seeds in the past, I might have to distribute my seeds through another company for mail-order customers.

In order to come up with a business name idea, I would like to know what factors I should consider when deciding on a farm name.
 
pollinator
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Location: Bendigo , Australia
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I feel the Business Name must convey what you are doing.
There is a trend here in Australia to abbreviate the name and it means nothing, which I see as a lost opportunity.
IE
DGT happens to be welders!
My own business  is Fly Screen Repairs Bendigo.

I would encourage;
- product or service offered
- region you work in
- any speciality, Organic, x-rayed, super good...., heritage etc but keep it short.
 
gardener
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Ryan M Miller wrote:

In order to come up with a business name idea, I would like to know what factors I should consider when deciding on a farm name.



I have gone through the process of naming my business (not a farm but it's the same principles.) First of all, you have to make sure that the name is not copyrighted somewhere else. This site tells how to do that in the USA:

https://www.sba.gov/business-guide/launch-your-business/choose-your-business-name

You could either use your name or something that tells what you do and/or produce. Think about what kind of feeling/ethos you want your name/brand to convey. Is it traditional? Innovative? Do you want it to have a "permaculture" feel to it and appeal to that kind of customer? Take the words you are considering and run them through a thesaurus-type site like https://www.wordhippo.com/

Finally, there are some name generator sites you can try out, too.

https://businessnamegenerator.com/
 
author & steward
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People constantly try to give my farm a name, or to call it a business. I consistently refuse.
 
steward
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Ryan said, "the owner has suggested that I come up with a name for my business during my internship



This sounds fun, something similar to a project I once had while in high school.

DeeDee Dina's Diaper Service was the name my friend and I picked out.  the teacher did like the name.

As a fun project, pick something just for fun only for the internship.

My suggestion, "A Seedy Business".

You must have something to suggest that the folks can play with ...
 
pollinator
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I like what John said.  In addition, decide whether you want straightforward, serious, symbolic, fun, jokey, etc

You can use a description of your location, like Hillside Organic Seeds, Aspengrove Farm, Red Barn Seed Company, etc.

If you have certain values that are important to you in the business, you could either use those words or use something that symbolizes those values. There's already a company called Resilient Seeds, but that's a good example. Golden Goose Seeds would be an obvious, accessible way bring to mind abundance, but you could also go with something slightly less obvious like Demeter (Greek harvest goddess) or the name of a plant that's ubiquitous where you operate.

You could also include a nod to your origin story in the name. If there's a person or incident in your life that inspired you to do this, you could incorporate descriptive words that reference the person or incident, like Ponytail Seed Supplier, Barefoot Seeds, Big Rain Seed Co., etc.
 
Jan White
pollinator
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Oh, and Shari has a good tip about using the thesaurus. I think that can be really helpful, too.
 
steward
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It also may depend on how broad your audience is likely to be. Will you aim to serve a very local group vs country wide vs international?

Personally, I like names that have a certain degree of whimsy to them. We do have a number of seed companies around my area and the location that the seeds are produced in gives people some idea of what climate the seeds will tolerate. For example, "Salt Spring Island Seed Company" suggests a fairly dry environment for growing in, and definitely "Mediterranean climate". Whereas, West Coast Seeds, could have their seeds produced in areas where the climate is much wetter.

My friend has been getting seeds shipped from Nova Scotia recently and it will be interesting to see how they fair here on the "other coast"?

Ryan - you mention you're an intern, so also consider how sure you are of staying in the same region longer term. If you're looking at a "5 year project", you may not care if the name or the goal stays the same, gradually morphs over time, or gets tossed when it costs you more than it benefits you. My son had to do a school assignment in Grade 9 that related to higher education and he was getting really stuck. I finally said, 'just choose what you think you want, no one is going to look at your college application in Grade 12 and say, "wait a minute, that's not what you said you wanted to do in Grade 9!"' Your job now is to learn *how* to go about the process of finding a name you won't regret. You're doing that to some degree, by asking people here on permies for ideas. You're also hopefully learning about yourself, because names are often personal and if you want it to reflect your inner self/inner values, I'd also think about what you value in yourself.
 
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When I was picking the name for my company I wanted 3 words that most aligned with my message.
Organic
Natural
Escapes

but I can go by O.N.E. When someone writes a check which is a lot less to write.

So I guess pick a clever name, but something that’s easy to remember and not too lengthy.

My buddy’s fence building company is Eager Beaver 🦫 🤣😂 and it’s super funny because he’s a hardcore vegan and builds fences. So sometimes the funny name gets you business. But if you’re selling a serious product…
I do love the sound of

“Heirloom Seedy Business”  

It sounds like an event at an ol folks home! 🔥🤣😂
 
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