Don’t use a name that is already in use by another company providing the same service as you. Any large house cleaning or maid service company will have trademarked their name, meaning that no one else can legally use it. If you choose a name that is already trademarked, you’ll most likely get a call sooner or later from the trademark holder (or their lawyers) demanding you change your name. Not something you want to have to spend your time doing. If you get it right when starting, you can save yourself a lot of time and trouble later on.

You can do a check on your proposed name on the internet. Go to the Government Trademark and Patent office (http://www.uspto.gov), and check to see if your proposed name is trademarked.

You should also do a search of the internet to see if the name you’re thinking of for your residential cleaning business is already in use by someone else in your country.

Note that there is a body of law which provides a common law trademark to business owners who’ve used a business name for a long time. If that business operates in only one city (or one state, or one country) and they don’t have a registered trademark, you could take a chance and use that name in another state (or country). However, I don’t advise this. Rather, try to come up with a wholly unique name that you can trademark yourself if and when you decide to do so. (You can apply for a trademark yourself on the USPTO web site, or you can hire a lawyer to perform the process for you.)

In summary, chose your name carefully – you may want to expand at some point into other cities or states and if your name conflicts with others’, you may have problems keeping your chosen name in all the locations where you wish to do business.

Be cautious about naming your new business after yourself. There are many house cleaning businesses with names such as “Mary’s Cleaning”. The advantage of a name like “Mary’s Cleaning” is that it has a personal feel, and people who like Mary would be inclined to retain her for her services. However, although Mary’s Cleaning might grow and prosper in its initial location, problems could arise down the road when Mary wants to sell the business. Unless the new owner’s name is Mary, that personal touch has been lost!

Note also that you can’t, in general, trademark a person’s name. You might be able to trademark Mary’s Cleaning, for example, but it will probably present difficulties.

(Note one important exception to this rule: Wendy’s hamburger restaurants, which were named after the daughter of the founder, who liked to promote his business personally, even after it had become a successful nationwide chain!)