Several people have asked me how I came to choose the name, Glen Shuraig Consulting. A few people familiar with the beautiful Isle of Arran have recognised it. I was lucky enough to get back to Arran for a few days myself this summer, so thought it might be good to share a little about the background to my business name (and have an excuse to include some nice photos).
Surely coming up with a name is easy?
When I decided to set up my own business, I thought choosing a name would be the easy part. Wrong! I was aiming to set up a limited company, so needed a name that was distinct from those already registered, and also where the appropriate web domain was available. That ruled out every bright idea I had for names that would capture the values of my business and what I was hoping to achieve for clients.
For several weeks, I was a complete bore to friends and colleagues about my business name. I picked everybody’s brains, and got lots of great suggestions – all of which turned out to be taken. One friend and I had what we thought was a great idea and which turned out to be available, but when I tried it out on others, nobody else liked it. Alas, Herewith Limited, you never got off the drawing board.
Eventually, in desperation, I thought I should stop trying to be clever and looked at permutations of my own name, but all of those turned out to be taken also. The one thing I didn’t try, which with hindsight would have been a good idea, is to get some professional advice. It’s an important decision and if you are at all successful, you will be living with the name for a long time.
Finally I hit upon the idea of a place name, and that took me quickly to Arran. I grew up there, and there are many lovely place with lovely place-names to choose from. So lovely, in fact, that it turned out many of those were already taken, too!
Glen Shuraig
I looked at maps and thought about places that meant something to me. When I was at school, we were divided into ‘houses’ for competitions and each was named after one of the Arran glens – Rosa, Iorsa, Sannox and Shuraig. I was in Shuraig. It finally struck me that I felt really comfortable with the name Glen Shuraig.
As some people have spotted, the name has several spellings. The Ordnance Survey uses Glen Shurig, and Glen Sherraig is another variant, but of course the one I grew up with is the ‘right’ one to me. People outside Scotland and some inside are not sure how to pronounce it, so perhaps not ideal from that point of view, but I like that it is distinctly Scottish and that it is also a talking point.
Glen Shuraig the brand
Although my original attempts to come up with a name that captured my values and what I do didn’t work out, I think the reason that ‘Glen Shuraig Consulting’ felt so comfortable to me was that it does in the end relate to my values. My work is all about public good and helping organisations do things better. What could be more of a public good than the beautiful Scottish landscape? Also, some people have pointed out that it sounds like the name of a malt whisky, which may give an impression of high quality – accidental but very welcome.
A friend who is an excellent freelance artist designed my logo, using the profile of Holy Isle just off the coast of Arran. I registered my company name, got my web domain and then got on with the dozen of other necessary tasks to get a business off the ground. It’s been about a year now, and there is a good pipeline of work, including some repeat business from clients, so it feels as though Glen Shuraig Consulting is becoming established. It’s been a tough year for small businesses, so I feel very lucky.
I would love to hear from others about how you chose your business name. Keep well!
