My wife Robin has a very competitive personality. She beats me at Jeopardy hands down, screaming out those answers with a fiery confidence to go with her fiery red hair. As a voracious reader, she is constantly adding even more knowledge to that huge brain of hers, yet she often accuses ME of being smart. “Business-smart,” I guess is what she’d call it. In our twenty five wonderful years of marriage (this September 22nd), I have learned never to underestimate her and I’m proud to have her by my side as my partner in life as well as my business partner.
One sign of a good marriage is the ability to compromise.
One sign of a good business is being able to overcome adversity.
Little did we know that we were about to do both…
I was in complete shock when I received the letter. “Dear Mr. Harrelson … We have serious concerns about your use of SignsRus.com as your business name …”
It was a sign…
I breathed heavy as I finished reading that fateful letter from the New York attorney representing the giant toy company, Toys ‘R’ Us. They were asking us to change the name of our sign business. “But we do not even sell toys!” screamed Robin with that feisty passion that only adds to her beauty. “We make custom banners and signs!”
Sometimes you should follow the signs.
It was time to ditch the old business name anyway as we had really outgrown it. That was just kid stuff back then. SignsRus.com emerged when we were still new to the internet. Since then, we’ve really grown up by serving the custom signage needs of small businesses and corporate clients alike, all across America and around the globe. It truly is the World Wide Web!
But how in the world was I going to think of a new business name?
How could I explain in a name alone that we are creative and personal, innovative and technology-savvy, friendly and down-to-earth, but proud visionaries of our trade? It was a mouthful. I would have to chew this over for awhile.
I spent months in the search engines, hoping the world wide web could offer some kind of inspiration, but instead of blazing glory and intense creative ideas, all I got for my effort was blazing dry eyes and a terrible headache. I needed more than words. Rather, I needed a brand name with some personality; an image that sparks immediate interest, an image that visually conveys our message, and an image that visually represents the essence of our service.
Inspiration can strike at the oddest times!
One of our top-pick restaurants is Slightly North of Broad in downtown Charleston (the locals call it SNOB for short). Maybe there was something special in the air that night, but as I was ooooing and ahhhhing over the Chef’s special, the unusual word pair “SignChef” suddenly popped into my head. I suddenly felt as if I were about to concoct something just as original, imaginative and satisfying as the delicious cuisine on the table in front of me - the very source of the inspiration.
The more I thought about the unique name, the more it grew on me. I liked the connotations that went along with the image of a master chef: excellence, dedication, passion, innovation, creativity, and the sincere desire to please. All the same qualities that represent the way we operate our business. Voila! Perfect!
Was there a sign of defeat?
There was one small problem - Robin hated it. She found it to be cheesy - not sophisticated cheesy like a fine-dining fondue experience, but just downright cheesy like a big old chunk of Velveeta. Naturally I respect her opinion (and her keen sense of humor), but I really believed in my notion. And after all, I was still “business-smart”, right?
So after many heated debates, we finally agreed to disagree and indulge ourselves in compromise. And after putting our business in the delicate science of reinvention, a brand new image was born and has been very well received. Even my toughest critic can be seen not just embracing our new name, but embodying it. Robin is pictured right on our sign in her executive chef coat with that gorgeous red hair and seriously confident smile.
So that evens things up on the home front
Score one for Robin’s brilliant and unrelenting Jeopardy skills and one for my out-of-the-box business solutions. Tie game.
And that, my friends, is the fine art of compromise served up with the science of reinvention in the sign shop. Bon appetit!