im opening up my own independant bmw mini shop ive been working with my dad at his shop for about 5 years wrenching and the rest of my life cleaning up after everyone and organizingsince i was about 8 yrs old im 23 now while working for my dad all i specialized in was bmw and mini and now finally i have the backing to follow my dream i was thinking about shop names Autobahn came to mind Ultimate BMW Shoppe came to mind but i want to know what the rest of you think would be a Unique name for a Unique shop so far the color scheme at the shop is bmw roundel blue on bottom white on top with mlogo colors as a checquered flag running thru
Ohhh woww, that's great...from one entrepreneur to another...best o' luck to ya and congrats! In what area are you located? Names...hmmmm...how about "Autowerke"? "Der Werkeshoppe"? Oh well, I know..."keep trying Frank" (he says to himself) !
I'm guessing "Bimmers-R-Us" didn't even make it into the running huh? No doubt you skipped right over "Bimmers and Minis and Rolls's, OH MY!" Das Bimmer und Mini Haus... meh, naaah... Mikey's Mini Shop - "Give it to Mikey; He'll Fix Anything!" Ye Olde BMW/Mini Service Shoppe? Hey. Hey, Hey, We Fix Bay-Em-Vay! Gunther's "They All Do That" House of BMW Repair? "Run-Flats Make Fun Flats" is a better bumper sticker than a business moniker... Newfangled's "Ultimate Drivin' Machine" Fix-It Automobile Repair? Well Ok, here's a genuine suggestion - consider using your last name, and/or perhaps first name as part of your business name, with the consideration that folks are likely going to shorten it down to the easiest one-word in conversation. If it were named, say, Ed McSillyPutty's BMW/Mini Auto Service & Repair, nobody will say that in conversation, too much of a mouthful. They'd likely say something like "I took my car down to McSillyPutty's & they did a good job". So, if your last name, and/or perhaps first name, isn't entirely generic (something like "Smith's Car Service" might put you in the company of 4 other business with the same name in your own city, for instance), then you stand a chance that's what folks potentially settle on as a unique identifier. I'd suggest a flip-through of your area yellow pages and see what other repair and service shops are named to avoid settling on something that might be too similar to another biz. Then, yes, get creative and see what you can come up with. Having the letters 'B' 'M' 'W' in the business title should make clear the BMW-specificity of the business (or also BMW/Mini) - if you use a reference that only enthusiasts may be aware of, you risk losing out on people that don't know the reference. Even if you had color, logo design, and other BMW-specific cues in a logo with "Ultimate Auto Service" as the business title, you can't count on people knowing those tie-ins, even if the least of BMW enthusiasts would. Oh, and - Congrats on starting your new business, best of luck with it all! Now you can get ready for the real joy of being your own boss - repeat problem customers that you have to be nice to no matter what, full responsibility for everything, a never-ending heap of paperwork, bills, taxes, and regulations to comply with, and perfecting the art of quickly and casually telling customers, no matter how obtuse and rare their issue is, that "They all do that." Be assured, there is nothing owners of BMW's & Minis with oddball, difficult to diagnose problems like to hear more than... "Don't worry about it, they all do that! It'll be fine!"
I'd suggest not using the brand names directly in your business name. You have no legal basis for it and you're inviting a visit from lawyers.
Speaking as a lawyer who has had to deal with this on behalf of friends who did that (using a manufacturer's brand advertising in their name), I can assure you that Phil is absolutely right. 'Bimmer' is available if you want to use that. I've seen some shops push the 'Bavarian' thing, which is probably OK. Maybe something along the lines of Marshall's sugggestions using your name as 'Schnavely's Bavarian Auto Service'. I would also stay away from 'Alpina', as that is a brand name. While they may not be able to afford as many lawyers as BMW AG, it only takes one or two to give you more aggravation than you want. As for your logo, you may want to get in touch with your local chapter to see if they'll provide you with the logo allowances with which the club is burdened. Understand that, unlike the club logos, you will not be able to have a BMW roundel in yours. Further, BMW lawyers will give you crap over: 1. Any quartered blue and white polygon (the BMW CCA logo is a special exception; no state chapters are allowed that design). 2. Any quartered roundel with a surrounding thick black border. 3. Anything with "BMW" on it. 4. Helvetica Sans Serif font (maybe) 5. Any roundel with the same general dimensions as the BMW roundel (Yes; they will actually measure the width of the border and compare it to the diameter!) 6. Any depiction of a whole BMW car. Understand the way these lawyers work, too. If they decide to write you a C&D (Cease and Desist) letter, they won't pick and choose which issues they're OK with. They will hit you with every possible grievance they can come up with, including any depiction of any BMW auto in your advertising. Now, they're not likely to be able to win every argument over these things if they're litigated, but if they have one certain winning point, you're screwed. So it is in your best interest not to attract their attention with blatant use that edges too close to brand infringement. You don't want to have a better-than-even chance of winning the argument; you don't want the issue to be raised at all. If you're not sure, run it past an intellectual property lawyer for an opinion. Good luck.
I had an independent shop for years and named it: Bavarian Motor Warehouse Around 1996 I got a letter from BMW concerning the use of the letters BMW as well as my display of items with the BMW logo and trademark. My response to them was I see trucks registered in Okemos, Michigan, running around delivering cars with the logo: Bavarian Motor Transit that were not owned by BMW NA, AG, or any other BMW entity. So what part of their protected marks was I violating? I finally had an attorney friend in DC reply to the "cease and desist" letter from BMW explaining how my affiliation with BMW as an owner pre-dated BMW NA and how my use of BMW logo items that had been legally purchased and are now being displayed violated no logo ownership, etc, etc. I even posted disclaimers in my shop (still have them) about my history with BMW and how everything was purchased legally and was also available for sale. Nowadays I see those same trucks delivering BMW, and Subaru and Mercedes but the name is currently: Precision Motor Transport Even though many still sport a large BMW roundel and some even a larger-than-life profile of a Z4! So, maybe they saw the duplicity in their request from back in 1996 and even their lawyers agreed with me. And maybe not . . .
Congrats! I've always aspired to run my own ____fill in the blank_____. Maybe some day, I'm not quite dead yet! You might consider running an ad in your chapters Newsletter too! For a low, low price you can get your name out to a good number of enthusiasts. Most of the time, people feel better giving their money to people that share some common bond.
On naming your business, what or who do people ask for when they want you to work on their cars? I got started in the Handyman business when my wife told her friends that I could do home repairs by saying 'Gary can do that' so I ended up using that as my business name.
Coming back to it, what about Bayerische Meister Krafts - I don't think that's correct German, but people would probably get the idea... headed up with a name and you'll have something like Bubba's Bayerische Meister Krafts...
i like the bayerish meister krafts lol i came up with Hockenheim Auto We and the rx im gonna use a a pharmacy rx style typa thing i will show you some pictures soon thank you all for all these comments! my main thing will be bmw and mini and since ive been around racers my whole life im gonna also offer race prep so on the bottom if i write specializing in BMW and MINI will i still have problems ?
Play around in Google Translate with names you might like and maybe run them past us or some native German speakers before you commit. I find very little more annoying than badly translated foreign languages. It's basically saying that you don't care enough to check. FWIW, ALL nouns in German are capitalized, plurals are NOT formed by adding an 's' (it's an 'e' or 'en' or variant thereof), and 'the' is replaced by at least three masculine (der), feminine (die) or neutral (das) indefinite articles, depending on the gender of the word you're describing. [Assuming you meant to type 'Werke') Clever, Germanic, and descriptive of a city where there's a race track. "Rennsport" is a fairly popular word. Means 'racing sport' (literally, 'run sport') and is where 'RS' is derived for German 'sporting' specials. BMW apparently abandoned 'Motorsport' when they made it 'M Brand' in the '90s, so you might use that generic term. The thing is, all of the heavy-handed German stuff will possibly turn off MINI enthusiasts. Why not go with your name and "--- Service and Motorsports"? That covers your primary business (service) and preferred business (race preparation - because all gearheads know what 'motorsports' implies.). Your tagline (below) tells people what you work on. Doubtful that would be a problem as a descriptive line in plain text near your name & logo.
Brother Krieger is mostly right: They did change the name from BMW Motorsport to BMW M GmbH. But they still race under the BMW Motorsport name. However, "motorsports" and "motorsport" are common enough English words. There are plenty of shops with one or the other in their names. Turner Motorsport comes to mind...
