Re opening business

[helloluna]

I had ran a small studio for several years, however due to flooding my city I have not been operating a business since spring 2013. Now that things are have settled down and back on track in our lives I am reopening. I have moved to a smaller town outside the city where I originally had my business. I went by "my Name Imaging". My issue is that my long term goal is to expand and have at least one other photographer ( who I have always used as my second shooter or assistant when needed ) along with a hair and make up team. I plan to be bigger then my original one man (so to speak) operation. I wonder if i should stick with my original "my name imaging" or change it since, like I stated, plan on being a bigger company down the road. I am not worried about losing clients because I have relocated and will be needing to build up a new client base (plan is once that is established to expand). My other issue is my name itself. My previous website was "my initials imaging dot com" (so the spelling/pronunciation was not an issue) however that is taken now and anything close to it is as well. My thought was to go with "myname dot com" now. My first name can be spelt about 4 different ways and my last name is spanish and can be hard for people to pronounce/spell. So my question is, since I will be expanding down the road (and the difficulty with my name and website domain) would going with a name for example Hello Luna Photos etc, etc (not actually a name I am considering, just an example) be better? The photographer I plan on bringing onboard thinks a "name" rather then my own would be a better idea. I am not asking for advice on what names to choose as I can plan that myself with those who I plan on bringing on board and no I do not plan on something like "through the lens photography" or "captured moments" (no offence) crap. I have seen many people getting flack when asking questions about names (on other forums) and I am not here for any of that. Its been a long year and a half, so I ask please no hassling. Thanks in advance.

 

[tirediron]

Is there any value attached to your previous business name? If not, then by all means go with a more generic name. If there is residual value however (as in people remember you) it might be worth considering keeping it.

 

[dennybeall]

My opinion is that the name of the business should either say what the business does or at least hint at the businesses purpose. So then "Johnny Brown, Inc." for me would be not good whereas "J Brown Portraits" would fit.
And "Stony Brook Portraits" would be even better since you could have 1 or 20 photographers and resell the business later to Herman Alphonse Zewicki and he could keep the name and clients.

 

[Designer]

I'd skip the "hello" part, and just call it "Photography by Luna". Logo could be a moon shot.