The Story of MEDEV Part 2: What's in a Name?

I started thinking of a name for my burgeoning medical equipment business with the realization that it could affect the success of the company itself, both in the short and long term. So I started thinking what I want the company to be, or at least what first impression should it project, such that the name should follow it.

I am forming a company that is in the medical equipment business, and I want it to encompass the industry so that it will not be limited to a certain product. I started playing with the words "medical" and "equipment" but I cannot get something out of them. I added other words including "Devices", "Products", "Systems" and "Service" in the list and tried to rearrange the syllables. I considered MedEquip but it seems there is already that company. MediPro sounds to me like a medical supply company. Medisys or Medsys is out of the question because they sound like "May disease" which means "with some sort of illness"! MediServe is the name of a diagnostic clinic. Other considerations were ProMed, PhilMed, ServoMed, etc.

I wanted the company to be a high-tech and professional firm. I thought that a German sounding name would be nice and fitting.

I was in college when a train called MAGLEV was designed and tested in Germany. This train uses electromagnets for it to float and glide or fly through a magnetic track at speeds in excess of 500Kph! Maglev is coined from the words "magnetic levitation" which describes its basic technology, high-tech indeed!!!

And that is when the name MEDEV, short for Medical Devices, hits me. It sounds to me like MAGLEV which generates all the technological imagery in my mind. It is unique, short and easy to remember yet it seems high-tech and still describes the business we are in. Yes, MEDEV is a good name. (Of course, later, many of our customers would joke that our company is owned by a sexy Filipina actress whose surname is Medved! I learned early on to laugh at that joke and would now even suggest to name her as our honorary chairperson, ha..ha..)

Now, I am building a company. I deemed that to be taken seriously, it has got to be a corporation, so I asked my wife, my sisters and mother-in-law to join me as incorporators. I am registering the name and applying for all the permits required to do business. My house in Paranaque will be my temporary office and I will be its first employee.

With a few savings in the bank which will be added later to my wife's early retirement pay, I now must think of what the company is, what would make it unique, why would customers buy from it and what would it's business really be?