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What title should I put on my business card?

ricgnzlzcr

ricgnzlzcr

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 7, 2005
802
0
So I'm in the early stages of starting my own company with a business partner. My business cards are about to be made and I have no idea what to put down as my job position. I will be taking care of the marketing, sales, as well as just taking care of as much paperwork as I can with the secretaries. My partner will work mostly with the administrative aspects of the company.

Should I just put down "owner" as my position or is there some fancy name I should put down instead?
 
ricgnzlzcr said:
So I'm in the early stages of starting my own company with a business partner. My business cards are about to be made and I have no idea what to put down as my job position. I will be taking care of the marketing, sales, as well as just taking care of as much paperwork as I can with the secretaries. My partner will work mostly with the administrative aspects of the company.

Should I just put down "owner" as my position or is there some fancy name I should put down instead?
Click to expand...

how about director?
 
If I were director what would my business partner be? The same?

Thanks for the input.
 
owner is fine. you could also be president. your partner would be the same thing as you.
 
Abstract said:
You: Director
Partner: Secretary. :p


Sounds like you're taking on more of the responsibility.
Click to expand...

Ha, I like that.

I'm thinking that something like Executive Director or Owner sounds good. I'll talk to my partner about secretary tomorrow;)
 
Most people would use the title:

Managing Director.

or

Director (Sales and Marketing)

But if you're new to the game, just play it by ear. Owner is not a good title. If you really feel the need to mention it though, then use Owner/Operator. The use of the word 'owner' in a job description implies a very very small company. Which it might be...
 
Yea, I don't think owner sounds very good. Director of Sales and Marketing sounds really nice though and really highlights what I'm doing for the most part. I may just put that one on there. If anyone has anything else in mind let me know.
 
I would put

Your Name
President/Marketing & Sales Director

Or you do

Owner/Marketing & Sales Director


You need to decide if you want your company to seem larger or smaller. Owner would send the message that it is smaller, and President would project the image of a larger company.

by the way- what is the business? How are you marketing your business?
 
flyfish29 said:
I would put

Your Name
President/Marketing & Sales Director

Or you do

Owner/Marketing & Sales Director


You need to decide if you want your company to seem larger or smaller. Owner would send the message that it is smaller, and President would project the image of a larger company.

by the way- what is the business? How are you marketing your business?
Click to expand...

The company is a medical staffing agency. My partner currently owns an interpreter agency and I've been doing the marketing for the last few months and it's doing great. While working with this company we've met a lot of people in the medical field and have only been encouraged to start up this new company.

We'd like to market this company as a regional business and not a very large company.

Marketing and Sales Director sounds great but I'm still uneasy about using owner on the business card. Anyone in a similar role have any experience?
 
ricgnzlzcr said:
Marketing and Sales Director sounds great but I'm still uneasy about using owner on the business card. Anyone in a similar role have any experience?
Click to expand...

Well, are you the owner in this company or not:confused::D- I would say if in fact you are the owner then use the title- what does your partner say?

I agree, if you are wanting a regional company use owner and not president. It sounds as if you want that personal touch of an entreprenueral type business- Good luck!
 
I guess you could do the whole Scrubs thing:

Chief
Co-Chief

The two of you will have to decide who's the co-chief.
 
shecky said:
i would put no title at all.
Click to expand...

I agree with this idea. At my current employer, no one has a title on their business card (or in their e-mail signatures, etc.) This allows for movement or reassignment of responsibilities without having a million extra cards that are now unusable.

Also, as long as you can satisfy your customers and give your vendors what they need, why does it matter to anyone what position (which in many cases are just meaningless titles to make people sound important) you hold?

/steps off soapbox :eek:
 
Toppa G's said:
Also, as long as you can satisfy your customers and give your vendors what they need, why does it matter to anyone what position (which in many cases are just meaningless titles to make people sound important) you hold?
Click to expand...

Normally I would agree. But, if he is doing the marketing, it may be helpful for people he interacts with to know, just by looking at his card, that he is a guy final final authority. I mena, he can tell them, but he probably won't be there when the final decision is made. The offices will know that they have someone who can't pass the buck on decision making. It's helpful.

Otherwise, I completely agree with you.
 
nbs2 said:
Normally I would agree. But, if he is doing the marketing, it may be helpful for people he interacts with to know, just by looking at his card, that he is a guy final final authority. I mena, he can tell them, but he probably won't be there when the final decision is made. The offices will know that they have someone who can't pass the buck on decision making. It's helpful.

Otherwise, I completely agree with you.
Click to expand...

I agree. While within the company we will be sharing each others roles often and moving to a variety of different tasks, I'd like to be able to show potential clients that they are important and are speaking to the head of the company.
 
A couple of questions to think about, but don't need to answer here...

1. How old are you?
2. When you say 'medical staffing agency' who will you be dealing with? Hospitals? Recruiting agencies? Front office staff? Nurses? Doctors?
3. What will you be doing?

The reason I ask #1 is that it might come across as presumtuos if you put 'President' or 'Owner' - my experience in the medical field is that people can be put off in some instances of individuals 'grandstanding' (not that i am suggesting you are !) You may want to go with 'Founder/Co-Founder' but I don't think that is great - i would suggest 'Partner' and a more descriptive follow on (see below)

i asked #2 for a similar reason, but more so because if you are essentially a 'job placement' agency the job title must fit

In this case maybe 'Senior (or Chief or Lead or some similar term) Placement Officer' or 'Recruit' in there somewhere

And #3 because if you are responsible for marketing then 'Marketing' should be i your job title (or whatever the responsibility you have is

So lets now link the ideas together

Partner, Lead Placement Officer
Founder, Chief Placement Officer
Co-Founder, Director Marketing & Sales
Partner, Head of Marketing & Sales
President and Chief Marketing Officer (now that sound important!)
Managing Director, Marketing & Sales
Managing Director, Recruitment and Placement

you get my drift.

And good luck!
 
I understand exactly what you're trying to tell me Alan. The reason I don't want to put something over the top such as president or such is because of my age. I'm in my 20's and although I have my experience in the field, having a job title that looks so prestigious or high up might put off others that I have to communicate with.

What I want to do is be able to seem humble enough to deal with any client on a day-to-day basis but still be able to show them that they can place their trust in me and fulfill their needs without fearing that my age might seem to get in the way. I believe that image plays an important role in this and I do look older, dress well, am well spoken, and know that I am doing things with confidence. Maybe this is the reason that I'm obsessing a lot over what my title should be. I just really want my clients to feel comfortable with me. As the company grows (hopefully) I know that our reputation will speak for itself, but for now picking up those first clients is the most crucial part of our survival.

In terms of names, I really like "Managing Director, Marketing and Sales." It seems high up but not so much that a client will start second guessing. Thanks so much for everyone's suggestions. If there is any advice that any of you have for me please feel free to let me know. I am always willing to learn.
 
When will you primarily hand out the business cards- direct mail, by hand, after an inquiry, or other? That can make a difference I think. You have to decide if someone wants to know they are talking to the head honcho or not. If you want your company to look like it has been around for a while then I would say downplay the owner/president thing- if you need them to know the buck stops with you then play it up. Just a few more things to think about. But in the end, what matters is how you approach the clients personally! That is unless your doing direct mail- then it matters quite a bit more.
 
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