Discussion Forums
for the
Personal Chef Industry

I saw that there was an APCA East Coast Personal Chef Summit back in October so I was just wondering if there were any plans for a gathering of PC's in the Northeast anytime in the future.
Any advise on how to chose a name for my PC business? I've been picking my brains all day (ouch!) and I have a few that I really like but I just can't make up my mind. I'm thinking about trying the dartboard method if I don't decide on one soon!!! How did all of you come up with your names??????

Hi Samantha,
Picking a name can be difficult. What worked for me was to open a Word document and just start typing any and every name that I thought of. No idea was too bad to include (and some were embarassingly bad!!). I also asked friends for ideas and added them to the list. After awhile you get pretty good at just sort of free associating and coming up with new names. After I had a bunch, I went down the list and weeded out, making a second list titled Semi-finalists. Then I continued to read them every now and then, plus I looked through cookbooks and recipes to see if any phrase suitable for a name jumped out. Got down to my finalist list, picked one (again asking friends for their opinions), went to file DBA papers and thank God it wasn't already taken!

Also, when I was putting together my brochure and other marketting materials I asked friends to read them and then explain to me what the materials said. I wanted to make sure that someone unfamiliar with the personal chef industry would understand what it is we do.

I liked your earlier choice of Kitchen Witch, especially with your name being Samantha (as in Samantha Stevens from Bewitched). I think most people associate kitchen witches with good luck, but maybe it would have a negative connotation. Maybe there is some way to tweak it to make it sound more positive?

Good luck with your new endeavor,


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Martha
The Portable Pantry
marthamcginnis@aol.com

Hi Samantha! I'm on my way out the door now to head for the Seminar in Dallas this weekend, and will be posting the next series of get togethers when I return...The Northeast and the Northwest will definitely be scheduled, so I may get a chance to meet you before too much longer. If you need me I'll have my laptop with me so you can reach me here on by e-mail. Have a great weekend. Candy