What term to use instead of "Company" to represent, well, a company

Question

I'm in the process of (re) designing a software product, and I'm attempting to find the right term to use. Right now, our product has been targeted at a few different industries that operate on a distributor-dealer infrastructure, and our software has been sold primarily to dealers. As a result, we have come to refer to the company (or companies) that are represented within a single database as "dealers", even though they may, in fact, be distributors and the dealers are actually their customers.

The package is expanding in scope and is now going to be targeted at other organizations that may not operate under this model, so the term "dealer" is becoming increasingly diluted. As a result, we are attempting to find a suitable term that is both generic enough not to be unintuitive, but also specific enough so as not to be easily confused with other parts of the database. In other words, simply calling them "Company" could be confusing because users already have other "companies" with which they conduct business entered into the system, and "Company" is the term used to describe them.

So far, only "Company" and "Business" have been found to be suitably generic, but I'm not sure if they're specific enough. I know that software like QuickBooks refers to them as a "Company", but I'm curious if there is something better suited.

EDIT: The database in question is the customer's database, not our own. We design the database and the application, but it's their data. Perhaps a little more information will be helpful, as there seems to be some confusion about what I'm talking about. I was under the impression that people reading my question could actually read my mind, but in case that isn't true:

As stated above, our current model uses the term "Dealer". In our database, we have a Dealer table that stores information about the dealer (or dealers) that our customer runs. In turn, we have a Customer table in their database that represents their customers, and a DealerId column in that table to associate a customer to a given dealership (some of our clients have multiple dealerships that they run out of the same database in order to share other things, such as product lists). What I'm looking for is an alternative to the term Dealer, as our target markets are no longer solely businesses that could be considered "dealerships".

Company would work, but I am concerned with our interaction with the customer becoming confused by mixing usage of the word "Company" for their company with other "companies" that they might interact with.

Answer 1

I'm afraid that there isn't a single word meaning our company as opposed to another company in English. If it's too confusing to use just plain company, then you may have to come up with some form of us, this company, our company, etc. on the one hand, and affiliate or associate companies (or client, if that's applicable) for the companies "our company" is working with.

Answer 2

If one client of yours deals business through multiple dealers/companies/entities, an apt term would be channels. Another good potential is locations.

EDIT: You could use distributors, but it seems the reason for your question is that either your clients' businesses are expanding beyond simple dealing/distribution, or your clientele is expanding beyond those who exclusively deal/distribute.

Answer 3

"Buyer" perhaps? Seems suitably generic.

Answer 4

Other synonyms I would use are concern and enterprise.

Answer 5

The context suggests that you don't really need a synonym for "Company" but for "Company which purchased our software". Candidates would seem to include "Software Licensee" and "Data Owner".

Answer 6

It seems what you really want is to distinguish "myself" from "others like me". Perhaps something reflexive, like "Self" or "My Company", is a better choice"? Or brand it with the company's name?

Answer 7

You might clarify in the question the sort of documents and the company levels where the terminology you seek will be used. I.e., company internal vs. external, verbal vs. written, documentation vs. contracts.

Because you apparently wish to refer unambiguously to two different levels of clients, concerns, buyers or customers, it might be reasonable to designate 'primary' and 'secondary' as terms referring to the two levels of customers.

The acronym VAR (value-added reseller) is often used to refer to an intermediate level of software distributors, packagers, dealers, resellers, or vendors, who are clients of software companies with, in turn, clients of their own.

Answer 8

I suggest that everything be, fundamentally, a Company.

The one that owns the database can be called the MasterCompany. (alternately - Owner, Main, Primary, etc.)

All the others can be called OtherCompanies. (alternately - Ancillary, Secondary, Partner, etc.)

You may even rethink the database structure and ask yourself if there really is a need for them to be separate concepts. Perhaps everything should be reflected in a single Company table with just a flag or type or something to identify the type.