Tuesday, January 15, 2008

What's in a name?

I have this hobby that is, surprisingly, turning into a home business. When I started Weight Watchers just after Lily was born, Dave and I made a family eating change that we wanted to last forever. That meant overhauling all of our dinners and replacing them with tasty healthy alternatives.

A few months into this lifestyle change, I was walking with my pediatrician friend who had just had her second baby and joined WW. In casual conversation, she asked if I would ever return to work. I said that I would want to do something that allowed me to stay at home, possibly cooking healthy meals for families that didn't know how to cook or didn't have enough time. There the hobby began.

She hates to cook and has little time with her profession and two kids. I cook 4 meals a week, 3 frozen and 1 fresh. I deliver them on Sunday's and include a list of meal instructions. All meals work well within the WW system which helps her to stay on plan. (and me too)

Now I am cooking for another woman and her husband who like to cook but have difficulty getting creative with low-fat, low-calorie meals.

I'm getting my business license soon and I need a name. Any suggestions??? I'm lacking in creativity.

14 comments:

TcH said...

wow!! that is awesome!!!
what do you charge for something like that?
I can tell you as a working outside of the home mom, something like this would be VERY very needed!
I can't tell you how many times it has concerned me I was not doing a good job cooking healthy for me, and my family. Heck, I spilled my guts and cried about it in Sunday school one morning. :- (
That is so great!!! Im excited for you!!!!!

No name suggestions. I am really horrible at stuff like that. Sorry......

Jodi said...

Hmmm...I'll have to spend some time thinking, but first I have a few questions:

Do you have any ideas at all? Something to give us a jumping off point? Or even just an idea of the image you'd like your name to project? Like, do you want your name to tell people that your meals are healthy? Have you heard of other business names from people doing something similar? How long until you go to get your license?

Jodi said...

Meals by Kate would be a very simple, yet classy idea. I envision it in a logo with a sort of flowy, whimsical font.

RachelC said...

You go girl! I wish you all the luck in the world.

How about

Kate's Kitchen?

Jenny said...

I wish I had money to pay you to cook for us. ;o) I do however, REALLY appreciate all the help you've been giving me. Can't wait to get together and talk more.

hm names I'm not very good at that either. I will see if Bryan has any suggestions. Also, you should have Bryan do your logo. He'll give you tons to chose from and I think he's good! ;o)

SO excited for you and what a fun hobby/now business!

kate said...

any name I would have at this point would be "heatlhy take home", but that sounds so...blahhhh. I'd like something catchy, even though I'm not advertising, it's just word of mouth

Jodi, if I ever need a logo, you are my woman

Cutzi said...

My mom's REALLY good at this stuff so I'll ask her. I'll give it some more thought too but one popped into my head (surprisingly)

Low on the Go
low fat, low cal, low stress...to go!

RachelC said...

My thought expanded as I was driving home last night...

From Kate's Kitchen to Yours

??

Cutzi said...

Love, Kate.

Not that I don't love yours - just still thinking.

kate said...

All entries are VERY welcome

Jodi said...

No other name ideas yet, but I was just thinking that one way to make sure your name offers a good description of your services would be to couple it with a catchy descriptive tagline. Takes some of the pressure off the name so you're free to just choose something you really like.

I know you're not advertising at this point, but I just think it would be cute if you had little business cards or something. That way if you did run into a prospective new client you could hand them a business card and look all professional. AND, if you ever DID want to grow your business, I know another stay-at-home mama you might be able to hire out for help. :)

kate said...

Jodi - angela mentioned the tagline option today too. I think it's a great idea and the business card idea is good too. I'm also thinking of branching out into menu planning with recipes included. And If I do take on more clients, I think I will need a fellow mama to help out ;)

Anonymous said...

Hi Kate the Great!
I think this is awesome! I would definitely incorporate something about the "health" aspect into the name or tag line. the health industry is SO big, it can only help you. I was thinking of tag lines today. something about "too little time for health? Not anymore...Low to Go!" ( I liked that name suggestion!)

Meal/menu planning is a great idea. I would love someone to create a monthly menu based on foods that my family loves. Meeting with a family to get those ideas (or even doing it via email) and then sending them a reproducible document that includes the organized grocery list would be fantastic. Oooh, can't wait to help you brainstorm when I'm there!

Katie said...

I so want to buy meals from you... Seriously, I might do it. We just have to work out a smaller portion and menu idea for me.

I think this is an AWESOME idea. I seriously never am home in time to cook a good meal and so I'm eating out again. YUCK!