Mакедонски
Aug
Very often, I get the question: Why the online store is esnaf.eu? Why it is not .com or .mk?
From the very beginning, when I was forming the Esnaf model, before I even started anything, I contacted Blaze Arizanov. His book “The White Trophy” left a deep impression on me and I was fascinated by Blaze’s perseverance during building his start-up ,,Stay Uncle”. I needed his advice and opinion. I wrote to him about what was my plan and the idea seemed interesting to him and he agreed to be my mentor.
Every step in the creation of Esnaf has its own story, but the story how we have chosen the name ,”Esnaf” was happening for several months. I wanted it to have a name that will reflect the meaning of what it should represent. And so I sent him some of my suggestions:
Good store
Creators store
Artisan’s house
Artisan market
Creators store
He told me briefly and clearly that it must be one word. Easy to remember and to sound nice. I think everyone that I have met during that period (May, June, July 2019) I asked him for advice on the name. I was also participating in a three-day training for social entrepreneurship, where we had an exercise task to ask a question and the team to help with ideas on how to solve it. Everyone had interesting challenges, and I went on with the Name of the Social Enterprise I want to create. The exercise lasted several hours and in the end the result was: it doesn’t matter what the name will be, but it’s mission. I had a great time at the workshop, but I was still at the beginning, I haven’t decide about the name.
I couldn’t do anything until I had a name for the social enterprise. I researched and tried various combinations and checked the available domains. Everything was always bought and occupied. I wanted it to be esnaf.com but the domain is for sale for $ 10,000! So I thought we’d be esnafki. It is a female version of Esnaf people. At the end, I was lucky and happy that we got the name I wanted! I write the full answer from Blaze, how we decided, in his style:
,,-Esnaf is short, sounds smooth, and is not a typical English word that adds an element of exoticism …
Doesn’t have to be .mk. Didn’t we say we are building an international brand from Day 1 so that the domain can reflect that. Izabela, you need go and buy the domain www.esnaf.eu, it is the only one available, before I decide to buy it and then to blackmail you and sell it to you for 1000 euros: D: D. ”
I’d never thought that we can use .eu! I was so excited and happy! I bought the domain quickly and the enthusiasm of starting something new and exciting was overwhelming me 💛💚.
– Izabela