Established six years ago, I had the bright idea to think about a company name based on what marketing guru's tell everyone; “Your company should have a name which includes what you do”. Alright, fair enough, and Global Acquaintance was registered. But only a handful of non-English mother tongue speaking people understood where my expertise was. Many people I spoke and met at different events thought I was an accountant as they didn't understand the word Acquaintance.
The second important aspect was that people did not know the person behind the organisation. But people did mention to me that they come across me very often on social media platforms. That I can’t deny, but in my experience my social media input is actually quite limited. I mostly only create content by posting and sharing international knowledge on LinkedIn.
So, when thinking about a new name many ideas popped into my head, but in my humble mind none of them stood out. That's when I requested support from my homeys (wife and kids) and the new name was born. “Dad, just call yourself whom you really are: Willemse Consultancy".
When people meet me for the first time, I’m Mr Willemse to them, fair enough. I think you are born to support other people and you should help others where you can to increase their success; now it's your turn. Although feeling a little uncomfortable on the name at the beginning, the change did feel right. Why can’t people who are just starting a new business in any category use their own name for their business and how come I am so worried to using my own name? I simply don't know, call it the generation gap. But, one thing is for sure; from now on my business is called ‘Willemse Consultancy’ and I am proud of it.