We changed our name. Check out the Back Office.

When we conceived TD Business Solutions, we already knew about the business we needed to operate; ours. We knew what it needed to do, provide operational services, because it was what we were doing for clients already. What we did not know, was what to call it.

We struggled for some time to work to figure out what to name our business. The TD part was pretty easy. We then did what any thoughtful person would do; we came up with terms, searched them on the domain availability and the business name locations as well as meeting the “sounds OK” as a name concept.

We did all the thinking, not over just one afternoon either, and came to Business Solutions. How else could we possibly define the concept of “running” the non-customer facing portions of a business, while still providing sales and marketing support?

We quickly were challenged by folks (our market) thinking that if we were an operations business, that we must be in the logistics business, like FedEx or a fulfillment company. We had to explain, “no, we contract that out”. We do all this other stuff.

What folks who have grown up in an Amazon world perceived was that if their widget was already at a warehouse with an item number, that they were done with orchestrating operations. They had already found the Holy Grail in their mind and it was not TD Business Solutions.

For those of you who know otherwise, you know that the needs of the wholesale trade, especially those retailers that are large can not all be driven by algorithm. Nordstrom and Apple and Bloomingdale’s have special handling needs. They have EDI (not web based communication). They most certainly are not going to place their own orders and ferret out their own tracking, They don’t pay by credit card and the list goes on.

Two weeks ago, we were casually speaking about our business with someone with a completely different background than ours and he said “oh, that’s a Back Office business”. We were gobsmacked. We never thought of ourselves as a back office business, because we were an operations business. Then we went back and did the homework.

The Back Office is where all the action happens. It’s not a “solution” of some kind. It’s a tangible concept that someone can understand. Marketing support. Sales Support. Customer Service. Tech Support. Finances. They all happen in the Back Office. The back office is an industry. It is commonly outsourced by companies that choose not to invest in back office internally. We found a home!

So, we made the change. Our new identity is TD Back Office or TDBackOffice.com. We’ll have mirrored websites at both domains. The irony is that we are still an operations company offering business solutions. Now we know how to talk about it. Where do you work? I work in the back office! Don’t be afraid to reconsider when a better choice surfaces or the common axiom, don’t love your first idea so much that you are unwilling to change your perspective in light of new information.