Handyman business name generator

Handyman work sits close to contracting, and where the line falls depends on your state. If your state licenses contractors, check its rules on advertising before you pick a name: your business name is advertising.

Before you settle, look up your state's contractor licensing board and read what it says about work that needs a license. If you are licensed, say so on your website and estimates; you can still keep "Handyman" in the name.

A starter list. These are unchecked ideas; run any you like through the steps below.

• Use your name. People hire a handyman the way they hire a babysitter: they want to know who is coming. "Dave's Handyman Services" tells them.
• Stay broad. The appeal of a handyman is the list: hang the door, fix the fence, patch the drywall. A name tied to one job ("Drywall Dan") narrows the calls.
• Mind the franchises. Several national handyman brands use short phrases with "Handyman" in them. A name close to one confuses customers. Search them first.
• Say it out loud. A lot of handyman work comes from a neighbor passing your number along. The name has to survive being said once over a fence.

• Say it on the phone. You will answer with it a thousand times. If you have to spell it every call, it will cost you calls.
• Spell it from hearing it. Read it to a friend and ask them to type it. Cute spellings ("Kwik", "Kleen") send people to someone else's website.
• Fit it on a truck door. Two or three words read at 40 miles an hour. Five words do not.
• Leave room to grow. A town name helps locally but feels small when you cover the whole county. A single service word feels small when you add a second service.
• Stay away from big brands. Anything that sounds like a national franchise invites a letter from their lawyer and confuses your customers.
• Skip initials on their own. "JMR Services" says nothing to a stranger. Initials plus the trade is fine.

Handymen lose the most money in two places: small jobs priced too low and invoices sent late. Work out an hourly rate that covers your drive time and tools, put a trip minimum on small jobs, and invoice the same day.

Our free invoice generator and estimate generator make a clean, printable document in a few minutes. When you want it all in one place, Koira does estimates, invoices and reviews from your phone.

A name idea is only an idea until you have checked it. The generator does not look anything up, on purpose: it cannot see your state's records, and a domain that looks free today can be gone tomorrow. Work through these in order. Most take a few minutes each.

1. Your state's business name search. Your Secretary of State (or corporations division) usually has an online search of registered LLCs and corporations. The SBA notes that most states do not let you register a name someone else has already registered. Search the exact name and the main word on its own.
2. Your county or city DBA records. If you trade under a name that is not your legal name, you may need an assumed name, trade name or "doing business as" (DBA) filing. Depending on where you are, those are filed with the state, the county or the city, so a name can be free in one list and still in use in another.
3. Federal trademarks. Search the USPTO trademark database for the name and close spellings. Most trade services sit in Class 37 of the international (Nice) classes, headed "construction services; installation and repair services", so look closest at marks registered there. A live trademark in your class, even in another state, is a reason to pick again.
4. The domain. Look the domain idea up at any domain registrar. If the .com is taken, adding your town or trade (for example the name plus "handyman") usually works better than switching to an unusual ending.
5. A plain Google search. Search the name plus your state. If a handyman business two towns over already uses it, your customers will mix you up, and their reviews will show up when people look for you.
6. Social handles. Check Facebook and Instagram. You do not need them all, but a matching handle is easier to put on a yard sign.

The SBA's guide to choosing a business name explains how the state name, the DBA, the trademark and the domain differ. They are separate registrations, and passing one does not mean you passed the others.

Your Google Business Profile is where most local customers will first see your name, so it pays to pick a name that works there as it is. Google's guidelines for representing your business say the profile name has to match the name you use in the real world: on your truck, your sign, your paperwork.

In plain words, the guidelines rule out adding to your name:

• Marketing words or taglines ("best", "#1", "affordable", "24/7")
• Service or town keywords that are not part of your real name
• Phone numbers, website addresses or hours
• Words in all capitals, and special characters you do not use on your signage
• LLC, Inc. or special characters, unless you can show you use them consistently on signs, cards and invoices

So "Handyman Services 24/7 Near You" is only allowed if that is truly what your business is called and how it is known. Google says unnecessary information in a business name is not permitted and can get a profile suspended.

This is why a name that already says the trade is useful. If your registered name is something like the ideas above, the handyman word is part of your real name, and Google treats it that way.