This may not answer your question, but as someone that owns an occasionally successful business, the conversation about the name should be really simple: name yourself what you are. Leave absolutely no room for misinterpretation and make yourself easy to find through your name. If people can find you, be it online, in a phone book, or however better than they do others, you get more business, and if they know exactly what you do and what you don't, you'll retain customers that would otherwise look to someone else that was clearer about their trade.

While I got what you're going for, if you think there is room for misinterpretation, then you answered your own question.

The word, "Broad" has at least one other meaning. While I don't think it is a horrible name, it might indeed be a bit too vague. The first small business I owned was called USS Enterprises. It had nothing to do with Star Trek. I was a Trekkie, though, and thought it was clever. The business name therefore had little to do with giving any information about the business itself. I didn't care. But maybe I should have.

I don't think there's a problem with the name for any of the reasons you mentioned.

However, I don't think it's a good name or strategy. I think it's better to brand yourself as expert in a few things. It's also more believable.

But then what do I know? I'm just some guy on a webdip forum. Where all broad experts come for advice.

The first thing that came to my mind when you said "Broad Expert" was that you were one of these self-proclaimed "pick-up artists". But then maybe I'm dating myself for having been a fan of 1980's television's "Alice" where the main character refers to all the women as "broads".

If you're dating yourself, you're probably not a very successful pick up artist.

I'm a software engineer just like you, ATC, which of course means that we're probably both well experienced at dating ourselves.

I have to admit that the image that jumped to mind was of a rather rotund person in a lab coat. If you do get fat it could be perceived as a fun play on words.

In terms of meaning you've got knowledge of many things, it is a little on the "Jack of all trades, master of none" side. A bit like the general builder who can apparently do anything from a bathroom to a roof, no job too small.

Bo and Tin gave good advice. I'd refine the name a little if it were me. Perhaps the "Corstice Consulting Group" or something of that nature, ya know?

Diverse Expertise. ... Broad Church... Experts R Us ..Steephie's Solutions Specialists

As an adjective, "broad" is not commonly used to describe a person directly. "Broad expertise" (as you mention) is used frequently, but not "broad expert."

So ATC thinks the name is fine for what I'm trying to convey, even though he thinks that the strategy itself isn't great. To the others who mainly say that the first thing that came to mind was not the intended purpose, how long did/would it take you to get the intended meaning? Does it just require another second for the right image to flash to your mind, or would you remain confused? Or somewhere inbetween, of course.

I am sort of invested in the name, so I could change but not sure if it's a good idea if it's a minor issue. So I'm trying to understand how major or minor the issue is.

How long? I'm still not sure I've got the intended meaning. I mean, I guess you're not talking about understanding women, or about being fat ... maybe your proposed title is about fat women?

Broad Expert would be a great name for an entry-level escort service.

It's all about context. Plucked out of the air it sounds a little odd, and can have several neanings. On a business card handed to a target market I dare say it will be fine

I hear "Broad" and I think you are so desperately for work you will do anything.

I usually look for an expert that has a narrow expertise. Makes him more skilled in the particular area I'm looking for. With the way social media is going, an entrepreneur is better off focused on one niche rather than a broad one.

Wankers R Us

What if you read it with the motto underneath:

Broad Expert
The Power to Adapt

?

As other have said, the name has two issues:
1) It doesn't even remotely convey what your business does, so people are unlikely to find you if they don't already know you exist
2) Almost everyone wants to pay an expert in a particular field, rather than a "broad" expert, as they will (correctly) assume someone who focuses on one task will be better at that one task.

This is reminiscent of soooo many Steephie threads where he "asks" for advice with his "businesses" then ignores 99.9999999% of the advice tendered. Which is why a fair amount of the "advice" is just insincere jibes

Thanks. I didn't want to bring the strategy into the discussion, but I guess it is relevant so I'll explain a bit: the basic premise of the company is to help highly technical people who want to start a company but don't know how to run a company. These are small startups that can't afford 'real' experts, so I work with people who know all the basic skills needed to run a company, including marketing strategies, finances, getting ivestors, setting up basic logistics, knowing which experts are needed etc. Furthermore, more specialised experts can be added to a team if needed, so the people are not necessarily broad, but the combined team provides all the help needed to build a company for a technical expert's technology. If you have a name that better describes that business logic, feel free to let me know ;-)

I appreciate the feedback though. I'm not ignoring advice, and I apologise if I gave that impression. The strategy is working quite well regardless of whether people think it should work, so I'm currently trying to work with the advice that I'm getting about the name rather than the strategy, but most criticism about the name seems to be tied to the strategy, which makes it hard to find an answer to what name would fit with this strategy. I did verify that I should indeed reconsider the name though, since I personally thought it was awesome and hadn't heard any criticism before so I assumed it worked. Thanks for that!

So if it does come across, as Octavious puts it, as the "Jack of all trades, master of none" type of business, I don't really mind because that is accurate enough to work for me, even if there is a negative connotation to that concept for some/many. If it comes across as "Fat Guy", I need to change something ;-)

So don't limit yourself - just explain the name a little - Broad Expert (OK with dudes too) - hopefully your business is a (diverse) escort service

LOL!

Broad Expert - Professional Services for Startups.

Consult Broad Expert, they have expert advice in marketing etc