‘What’s in a name?’
I’ve spent most of the week trying to think about a suitable and catchy name for my business. I feel like I have gone around in circles. I started with the name Patti Cakes, then worked through a list of other names, but kept ending up with that name. My daughter , husband, mother in law and dog have been helping me find a suitable name. It’s actually really hard to come up with a name that does not have a trademark.
Those in business say it needs to say something about what you are doing, or at least give the potential customer the idea of what they are buying into. They also say, you don’t want to limit yourself in your name, so for instance I could call myself Patti Cakes, but what if later I want to make tarts or pizzas, am I limiting the products I can make? What about ‘delectable treats’ or ‘sweet fa’. All the good names seem to have been taken. I could just call it, frog!
It makes me think about Shakespeare, ‘What’s in a name? That which we call a Rose By any other name would smell as sweet’, Romeo and Juliet. . We’ve all heard this and it makes me think. Honestly, does it matter what the name is? The product is still the same, right? Homemade bakes, using natural ingredients, avoiding processed sugars, delivered to your door by a friendly neighbour, on my bike, reducing food waste and trying to produce a sustainable product. What about Sweet Cicely?
To start some market research, I posted on a local platform (next door) that I would offer two slices of banana cake to the first 5 people, in return for some feedback for my business. I’m going to roll this out over the next few weeks to get feedback from people I don’t know, to see whether people would be interested in my products. The 5 people who tasted my cake, all liked it and asked to be kept posted if I do set something up, as they would definitely buy from me.
This gave me some confidence in my baking abilities, and kind of reassured me. So this week I plan to make a lemon cake and see if anyone wants to try it, maybe add some plum to it for some sweetness. And next week I plan to make some biscotti with nuts, figs and orange.
As well as a suitable business name,, i’ve really been thinking this week about my concept of using unwanted edibles in my baking and cooking and how viable it might be to sell these products. What are the regulations that surround this concept? What are people’s attitudes towards this kind of cooking? We have become so indulgent with our food that we have forgotten what it is like to eat seasonally. My mother sent a photo the other day of all the beans she picked from her garden and how she sat down with my father and de-beaned them. Any not eaten over the next few days would be put into the freezer to be eaten throughout the next 3–6 months.
I had a question in my survey about eating foods / dishes made from unwanted edibles. Surprisingly, people were interested in the concept but thought the cost of the products would have to be cheaper. It’s something to explore, and I think I should have a conversation with the two companies who have set up the platforms ‘Olio’ and ‘Good to go’. If you haven’t heard of them, they link people to foods / products that are closer to their sell by date and can be linked to a suitable person who is ready to use them. The idea is to reduce the tonnes of food waste.
I end the week still thinking about a name and playing around with logos. Hopefully, I’ll have moved on by next week. I might even have a name to present to you. What about Patti’s cucina?
