7 Steps to Starting a Business - Part 2

Fifth, if you are planning to run a serious company, you

need to perform a nationwide business name search.


If you become a nationwide company, you may need to insure

that no one else is using the business name you are going

to use for you company. The way to acquire rights to the

use of a business name is by selling specific products or

providing specific services and using a specific business

name in a certain small region or large one, such as a

nationwide area. For example, if you sell Scandinavian

furniture in Minnesota under the business name "Fine

Scandinavian Furniture," you acquire some rights to the

business name in Minnesota. If another company in Minnesota

decides to sell the same type of furniture with your

business name, you can sue them to enjoin them from using

your business name.



Sixth, get the cheapest business insurance available:

incorporate your business or form a Limited Liability

Company (LLC).



You are not required to incorporate or form an LLC but it

is a very good idea to do so because a corporation or LLC

is a separate "person" or legal entity. Filing a DBA, does

not protect your personal assets. However, if you

incorporate or form an LLC, and someone sues your

corporation and obtains an unfavorable judgment against

your corporation, he or she can only execute the judgment

against the corporate assets -- not your personal assets

such as your home. Incorporating or forming an LLC is the

best way to protect your own personal assets.



The last step is to take your DBA or corporate certificate

to a bank and use it to open a business checking account

and a merchant account.



You will need these accounts to cash business checks

written out to your company name as well as use the

merchant account to run credit card transactions.



------------------------------------------------------------



You can hire an attorney to file your business documents, a

less expensive legal service or you can do it alone. After

obtaining the required business licenses discussed above,

and opening your business accounts, you are legally able to

start business operations. As an attorney, I have set-up

quite a few small businesses and, invariably, they needed

at least two or three of the above business licenses or tax

id numbers. Having filed all the required business licenses

will give you peace of mind to pursue other business

activities such as promoting your business and providing

customer support.



File all required business licenses for your business and

start making money!

This article has been edited and abridged into two parts by the editor.



----------------------------------------------------

Elias Stassinos, Esquire is a trademark and incorporation

attorney that has assisted thousands of small business

owners and entrepreneurs launch their first business

enterprise. Visit his law firm Website:

http://www.stassinos.com . Attorney Elias Stassinos,

Esquire is also a corporate legal

counsel for the leading online legal filing service at

http://www.businessnameusa.com .