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Written by : Noel Congdon |
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welcome to the LLC name research video there are a few things to keep in mind when selecting your LLC name your desired LLC name must be distinguishable and cannot be too similar to the names of existing organized entities there are also certain restrictions and requirements to keep in mind regarding the use of certain words and abbreviations suffixes and different business types do not constitute a difference for example the name business enterprises LLC would not be available for use if there was an active corporation filed under the name business enterprises incorporated the singular plural and possessive forms of a word are considered the same and spaces and punctuation do not constitute a difference inserting the words and the and we're using the ampersand symbol do not constitute a difference either for example umbrellas LLC and umbrella incorporated and the umbrella limited are considered the same and are not distinguishable from one another neither are the names apple orange LLC apples and oranges LLC and apple and orange limited the word Florida the abbreviation FL or the words of Florida at the end of the name do not constitute a difference either for example PGM logistics LLC would not be available for use if there was an active LLC with the name PGM Logistics of Florida LLC your LLC name will be available for use if there are no other names like it you will also need to pay attention to the status of existing registered names in the search results as some are available for use and some are not names with an inactive or enact status are available for use these are prior business names which have since expired and are now available to new businesses names with the act act or inactive /un for inactive and unavailable are not available for use active names are currently registered business names and an inactive and unavailable name is not yet available for new businesses to use we will go into detail through our examples in our online search since an LLC is not a corporation you cannot use the words incorporated or corporation or an abbreviation of either such as ink or Corp your LLC name must end with the words limited the liability company or the abbreviations LLC dot or LLC the abbreviation LLC is the most common if your LLC will be used in conducting business with others you may want to make it easy to remember easy to spell and something remarkable we also recommend thinking of an alternative name now in case you find yours is unavailable example your desired LLC name is speedy delivery services LLC and an alternative would be quick delivery LLC or at your door quick LLC keep in mind that if after you submit your articles of organization which is discussed in lesson 2 and it is discovered that your name is not available for use the division of corporations will send back your filing with details on what needs to be changed there are no additional costs associated with this we are now ready to search your desired LLC name against all of the registered entities in florida the link below this video will take you to the state's online database let's head over to the state's website this is what the search page will look like if for any reason the link below this video did not work please go to WWN biz org once on the homepage scroll down and on the left click search our records underneath corporations trademarks limited partnerships and limited liability companies click the first link which is inquire by name for a first example we will use bagels with LOX LLC I'm now going to type bagels with LOX into the search bar and then click search now capitalization is not important and don't enter the suffix such as limited liability company or the letters LLC you can just enter the first part once the search results are displayed you have to look through the alphabetical list and find the LLC name here you can see bagels with LOX LLC and if you scroll over to the right under status this is active that means that this is a registered business and I cannot use that name for my LLC remember if you see the status active AC T inactive /un which is in active and unavailable or you see named HS any of those names will not be available for use I'm now going to click the back button and let's try another search for this example I'm going to use the ride Adventures LLC I've entered the words the ride Adventures and I'm going to click search now you'll see here in research results that the first one that came up was ride Adventures LLC and if I look under status this is an active registered business although my desired name was the ride adventures LLC there's already a business with the name ride Adventures LLC remember the words the N a + + / sound or space don't constitute a difference in this example I cannot use this name I'm going to hit the back button again and we'll do another example for this example I'm going to go with a name Ships cafe of Florida I've entered the words and I'm now going to click search now sometimes you'll need to scroll through the list in order to see whether or not there is a similar name since I typed in ships cafe I'm realizing that the first results are a little bit ahead in alphabetical order I'm going to scroll down and click previous list and I'm gonna scroll down to the bottom you'll see at the bottom here I found ships cafe LLC and although I wanted the name ships cafe of Florida LLC using the word Florida the abbreviation FL or the words of Florida does not constitute a difference and in this case because this business is active I cannot use this name let's go back to the search screen and do another example for this example the desired LLC name is consulting across borders I've entered the desire name and will click search now for this example you'll see that we've come across consulting across borders Incorporated however if you look to the right hand side this name is inactive which means it's available for use the status in act or inactive means that the name has expired and is now available for new businesses if this were my LLC name of choice I could now move forward onto the next step which is the articles of organization let's do one more example let's go with the name byah Management LLC I've typed in the words by a management and I'm going to click search now as I scroll through this list I realize that there are no other existing businesses with even the word bhaiyya let alone by a management or something similar for this example I could move forward with the name by a management LLC if you have specific questions regarding your LLC's name availability you can call the division of corporations directly at eight five zero two four five six zero five one once you have found a name that either no one else has registered or a name that has an inactive status you're ready to move forward onto the next step please see lesson 2 for instructions on how to file the articles of organization this now concludes the name research video
Thanks for your comment Benjamin Hartless, have a nice day.
- Noel Congdon, Staff Member
coming up with a business name is one of the most important steps in forming a business your name affects your branding and your image as a company let's get you started on the right path to picking a solid business name in Florida Florida is an excellent place to start a business the Sunshine State has the lowest income taxes in the country and is number one in economic growth prospects every state has slightly different requirements for naming a business follow along closely to learn the required steps for naming a business in the state of Florida in this video we will go over how to name your business based on your business structure branding and brainstorming business names and how to check your names availability be sure to ask yourself the seven essential questions we provide before you make this critical business decision 1 choose a business structure you'll need to determine your company's business structure before deciding a name as different business structures have different naming requirements there are formal business structures like LLC's and corporations and informal business structures like sole proprietorships and general partnerships in this first section we'll talk about the naming requirements of each informal business structures if you are operating under a sole proprietorship your company must operate under the surname of the owner in order to use a different name the owner must file a DBA or doing business as also known as an assumed name fictitious name or trade name general partnerships are similar to sole proprietorships with the difference being that partnerships consist of two or more people a general partnerships name must consist of the surnames of all the partners like a sole proprietorship if you want to operate under a different name you need to file for a DBA LLC or limited liability companies if your company is an LLC your name must include the phrase limited liability company or one of its abbreviations LLC or LLC with a period in between each letter restricted words such as Bank Attorney law office etc may require additional paperwork and may also need a licensed professional to be part of the LLC your name cannot include words that could confuse your LLC with a government agency such as FBI Treasury or State Department here are some state specific requirements for Florida LLC s your name cannot contain language implying that the LLC is organized for an unlawful purpose or one that is not stated in its articles of organization corporations if your business is a corporation or a C Corp your name must include the words corporation company incorporated limited or an abbreviation of any of these here are some state specific requirements for Florida corporations your name cannot contain language implying that the corporation is organized for an unlawful purpose or one not stated in its articles of organization your name cannot contain language implying that the corporation is connected with a state or federal government agency or corporation when choosing your business structure you may hear the term S corp which isn't actually a business structure but a type of tax structure used by an LLC or corporation if your business is taxed as an S corp follow Florida's naming requirements for the business structure you chose for all business structures your name must be distinguishable from other existing businesses in Florida a couple examples of names not being distinguishable would be Auto Store Inc versus auto store LLC the only difference in the name is the business structure changing the words the and or a in front of your business name does not make it distinguishable for example the auto store Inc auto store Inc and an auto store Inc are not distinguishable from each other using an ampersand instead of aunt or vice versa such as Smith and Smith is not different enough from Smith and Smith using an ampersand your business name can't have words that sound identical to another business with a different spelling boys Inc with an S and boys Inc with a Z are not distinguishable to branding and brainstorming when picking your business name you'll also want to consider whether your legal business name will be your brand name or if you will have a separate brand name your legal name is what is listed on your formation documents this includes words required based on your business structure such as LLC Corp or company your brand name is the name you use to market your company and the name that clients and customers see in use when deciding what to name your business decide on your branding strategy using these three options do you want your businesses legal name to also be your brand name such as Tiffany and Co do you want your legal business name to be different from your brand name hewlett-packard is HP do you want to have a legal business name and several different brand names Gap Inc is their legal business name but their brand names are Gap Old Navy and Banana Republic while you're thinking about how to brand your business start brainstorming some business names you should start by brainstorming at least four to five potential names the goal is to come up with a few catchy and creative names then check to see if they are available a good brainstorming session should last 15 to 45 minutes and it's important that you're comfortable think snacks water a comfy place to sit and your favorite pin use a timer and don't stop till it goes off if you need more time take a 15-minute break walk around a bit grab some more water and start again after doing some brainstorming and coming up with a list of a few business names to choose from ask yourself these questions to help pick a name or refine some of the names you have is my name simple and shorter rather than longer a simple name will be easier to remember easier to talk about and easier to write you can avoid some hassle by having a simple and short name shorter business names are easier to remember and generally simpler than long business names if your business name is too long there's a possibility that your clients call you by a nickname that you have no control over and doesn't do your business any favors how does the name sound when I say it out loud don't just read the name actually say it out loud say your name slow fast and with the different emphasis to make sure it doesn't end up sounding like something else is it easy to pronounce spell and does the acronym look okay along the same lines as having a simple name a business name will be more memorable if it's easy to pronounce and spell another important thing to keep in mind is if the acronym of your business ends up spelling something you don't want to choose a name for your business only to find out the first letter of each word spells out flop did I include a geographical location in my name by including a location in your name you may limit your business and growth potential customers and other states may not consider contacting you if they think you are only trying to do business in a specific location how does the name compare to other businesses in the industry look at your potential competitors na
Thanks Lupe your participation is very much appreciated
- Noel Congdon
About the author
I've studied literary theory at Huston-Tillotson University in Austin and I am an expert in finnish history. I usually feel annoyed. My previous job was harbor, lake & waterways police I held this position for 2 years, I love talking about model racing and motorcycles. Huge fan of Adam Driver I practice shuffleboard and collect first day covers.
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