When you start up your Internet Marketing business, you most likely will be thinking about choosing a company name.
Before you run out and register with the state to operate under a fictitious name consider a DBA.
That perfect name you have chosen may not seem so perfect after a year or so.
Or the name you want to use may be in use by someone else.
A DBA simply means "doing business as".
You can operate your business as a DBA for as long as you like.
Granted it does not sound as professional as if you were operating under a filed fictitious name.
But it's not like you have to advertise that you are a DBA.
The only place you actually need to publicly display the DBA is on your checks.
For example my first company was a maintenance company.
I set up, installed, and maintained aquariums.
I had clients with restaurants, doctor's offices, dentist offices, and some private residences.
When I started my fish tank maintenance company I was lucky if I had two nickels to rub together.
So filing for a fictitious name was low on my list of priorities.
So I operated as a DBA.
My invoices all had headers that said Aquatic Interiors.
They all made their payment checks out to Aquatic Interiors.
And as far as they knew that was my company name.
The only places that knew I was operating as a DBA were my bank and my accountant.
All my checks had printed at the top Mike Hagerty DBA Aquatic Interiors.
The reason I had to have it like that on my checking account was so that I could cash the checks that were issued to me for payment for services rendered.
And of course my accountant had to be aware of it for my tax filing purposes.
But as far as everyone else on the planet, my company was Aquatic Interiors.
So if you believe you have the perfect name for your new company, and find out someone else is using it.
You can still operate with it.
Just operate as a DBA.
And if that new name you have picked out is available, but perhaps you don't have the money right now to do all the filing involved with getting a fictitious name.
Just go with DBA.
And if you have the money and the name is available.
You may want to hold off a bit just to make sure that perfect name is really the one you want to use.
And in the meantime, just operate as DBA.
Before you run out and register with the state to operate under a fictitious name consider a DBA.
That perfect name you have chosen may not seem so perfect after a year or so.
Or the name you want to use may be in use by someone else.
A DBA simply means "doing business as".
You can operate your business as a DBA for as long as you like.
Granted it does not sound as professional as if you were operating under a filed fictitious name.
But it's not like you have to advertise that you are a DBA.
The only place you actually need to publicly display the DBA is on your checks.
For example my first company was a maintenance company.
I set up, installed, and maintained aquariums.
I had clients with restaurants, doctor's offices, dentist offices, and some private residences.
When I started my fish tank maintenance company I was lucky if I had two nickels to rub together.
So filing for a fictitious name was low on my list of priorities.
So I operated as a DBA.
My invoices all had headers that said Aquatic Interiors.
They all made their payment checks out to Aquatic Interiors.
And as far as they knew that was my company name.
The only places that knew I was operating as a DBA were my bank and my accountant.
All my checks had printed at the top Mike Hagerty DBA Aquatic Interiors.
The reason I had to have it like that on my checking account was so that I could cash the checks that were issued to me for payment for services rendered.
And of course my accountant had to be aware of it for my tax filing purposes.
But as far as everyone else on the planet, my company was Aquatic Interiors.
So if you believe you have the perfect name for your new company, and find out someone else is using it.
You can still operate with it.
Just operate as a DBA.
And if that new name you have picked out is available, but perhaps you don't have the money right now to do all the filing involved with getting a fictitious name.
Just go with DBA.
And if you have the money and the name is available.
You may want to hold off a bit just to make sure that perfect name is really the one you want to use.
And in the meantime, just operate as DBA.