Excerpted from: Home Business Magazine's Home-Based Biz Start-Up Guide:
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Step 4. Decide on the Type of Business Organization to Use
You have a plan for your business. Hopefully, that plan includes the way in which your business will be set up from a legal point of view. This setup includes the selection of your company name (if you want or need one) that's different from merely using your own name. It also requires you to take certain steps to obtain certain identification numbers so you can get up and running.
Your Business Name
Some unknown person said: "Words have meaning and names have power." One of the first things to do in starting a business is pick a name for it that can help you succeed. In selecting one, you need to keep certain things in mind:
Is the name legal? The name must be available for use, which means that it's not being used by another business. If you are going to be a local business, it may be alright if a company across the country uses the same name because there's no confusion in the mind of the public about which business is which. But if you're going national, or international, as is possible through the Internet from the comfort of your home office, your name must be unique to your business.
Be sure that a name you're considering hasn't been trademarked by another business. If so, you can't use the name legally; it's someone else's trademark. You can run a quick trademark search at USPTO.gov. And you might want to trademark your newly selected name to protect yourself (explained in Step 5).
Also check with your state's secretary of state (www.nass.org/membership) to learn if any businesses have registered the identical or very similar name to the one you'd like. A similar name may or may not be able to become registered when you form an LLC or incorporate (explained later).
If you are going to be a limited liability company or corporation, then the name must include certain abbreviations to indicate to the public that only the business and not the owner is legally responsible for actions, debts, and other matters.
■ A limited liability company's name must include LLC or, in some states, LC.
■ A corporation's name must include Inc., Corp., or Ltd. Professional corporations, which are those formed by doctors, lawyers,
