Phelps Research is now Marcy Phelps & Associates
After 18 years in business, I’ve changed the name of my company. It sounds strange, feels different. And now it’s time to move on.
Not much else has changed, except the domain name. I haven’t moved in a new direction, and the company still offers due diligence services that inform our clients’ important business decisions.
So why am I taking this step at this point in my career? Let me explain:
As I mentioned in a previous post, I recently celebrated the anniversary of working with my first client. Soon after starting with this client, I officially started my business, choosing Phelps Research as the name. Back in the day, clients valued research, and that’s what I imagined doing for the rest of my career.
Then I learned my first lesson in entrepreneurship: Things change. Suddenly, everyone’s a researcher. Google’s gotten better at digging for details, and clients subscribe to professional databases. So, why pay me to do their research? [and that’s an issue too big to deal with here]
Eventually, I added to my skill set and became a licensed private investigator and a Certified Fraud Examiner. And with these skills came new clients with new needs.
Yes, I still do research, but clients started caring less about how I do my work and more about results – minimizing risk with information and analysis from an unbiased third party.
That’s when I learned another valuable lesson: It’s hard to change perception. Once I became known as a researcher, it was difficult to pivot, especially when research is part of your name.
Prospects focused on the limitations of “research,” rather than the broad scope of my company’s services. And no matter how many times I explained the new direction to established contacts, they still only thought of me for straight research. New contacts just looked confused.
Since I’m in it the for the long-run, with lots of ideas and plans for at least another 18 years, it was time for a change. My 2018 strategic plan includes targeting new clients in new markets, so it seemed better to fix the issue sooner, rather than later.
So why Marcy Phelps & Associates? Here are just a few of my reasons for choosing this new name:
It’s generic – Regardless of any future changes in company direction, I won’t have to go through this again. Legally changing a business name is a simple process, but notifying every credit card, vendor, and contact is quite a project.
It’s all about me – When you work with my company, you work with me. You don’t go through a website or gatekeeper, and my goal is to make our business relationship as seamless as possible. I manage every project and handle quality control from start to finish.
It’s also all about the team – Yes, there are actual “associates.” I’m a solopreneur but don’t work alone. I maintain a network of colleagues all over the world – a carefully curated group of professionals who assist me with global due diligence investigations. And I couldn’t do it without them.
While you’re here, take a minute to explore the new website, check out what we do, browse some past blog posts. And please stay in touch. I love hearing from you.
Here’s to 18 more years of working with great clients!
