Rentalutions is a terrible startup name.
It's not as bad as, say, Yo or Doostang or Thoof. But it's a mouthful, and kind of confusing. In the course of reporting on Rentalutions over the past couple of years, I've had to double and triple check the spelling each time to make sure I didn't call them Rentulations or some other butchered version of their name.
Launched in 2012, Rentalutions builds software that helps part-time landlords take care of their rental properties. It quickly gained traction with do-it-yourself landlords who wanted a better way to do things like screening tenants, collecting rent and managing maintenance issues. The startup says it has worked with more than 65,000 landlords across 14,000 zip codes. Last year Rentalutions raised $2 million in seed funding.
The business has clearly shown promise. But there was one glaring problem early on: the name.
"What we started hearing, even from day one, was that people hated the name," CEO and co-founder Ryan Coon said. "People couldn’t pronounce it."
The genesis for Rentalutions was simple enough---a combination of "rent" and "solutions." The startup offers landlords and tenants a platform of digital solutions that make the rental experience more efficient, and Rentalutions seemed like a natural fit, Coon said.
But last fall, after countless mispronunciations and misspellings, leading current and prospective landlords to struggle to find the startup online, the company decided it was time for a rebrand.
The company worked with Chicago brand strategy and design firm ColorJar to come up with a new name, logo and web design. The startup began on what would be a five-month journey to research, debate, test and ultimately settle on its new name---Avail.
"Avail means to help, to aid," ColorJar founder and CEO David Gardner said. "It's a known word, but a little-known word. It sounds familiar but also new."
Before settling on Avail, the company debated a handful of other names that ultimately hit the cutting room floor. One thought was to name the company after a fictional neighborhood, such as Spring Avenue. The idea was that the company was building an online community for real-life neighborhoods, and a neighborhood-sounding name could resonate with clients. Another contender was RentSet, but that was too similar to the original name.
The startup also tested RentSet vs. Avail in Google and Facebook ads, and found that Avail was the clear winner in terms of engagement.
Changing a startup's name is about more than making it easier to pronounce or getting a fresh new look. A better name can save you money on customer acquisition costs, Coon explained, as it's easier to find the business online.
"We believe that through a better name we can lower [customer acquisition costs] by 20 percent," he said.
Tech startups are notorious for selecting silly or ridiculous names for their business (see the aforementioned Yo and Thoof). But Rentalutions wanted a new name that conveyed the serious nature of the company's business.
"Ultimately, we're helping people with their home. And home is not something that should be taken lightly," Coon said. "So for that reason, we wanted a name that will have that sense of trust and familiarity."
"We're a 5-year-old business," Coon continued. "We're not a fly-by-night Yo app. We're here for the long run."
