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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 Iowa Iowa is an excellent place to start a business I will ranked 6th in the nation for new business survival rate 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 Iowa 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 Iowa does not have any state specific naming requirements for Elsie's beyond what was just listed 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 Iowa corporations your name cannot include words that could confuse your corporation with the government agency such as FBI Treasury State Department etc certain restricted words like bank attorney or university may require additional paperwork and a licensed individual to be a part of your 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 Iowa's naming requirements for the business structure you chose for all business structures your name must be distinguishable from other existing businesses in Iowa a couple examples of names not being distinguishable would be autoStore Inc versus autoStore 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 autoStore Inc autoStore Inc and an auto store Inc are not distinguishable from each other using an ampersand instead of and 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 voice 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 and use when deciding what to name your business decide on your branding strategy using these three options do you want your business's 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 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 pen 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 but 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 a 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 names does there seem to be a format that other businesses in the industry follow when naming their businesses does your name stand out in a bad way you want a name that's unique and grabs att
Thanks for your comment Zackary Gamble, have a nice day.
- Silas Failde, Staff Member
how to form an LLC in Iowa Iowa is an excellent place to form a new LLC with low business costs and a highly educated population Iowa ranks sixth in the nation for new business survival rate every state has slightly different requirements for forming an LLC follow along closely to learn the required steps for creating your own limited liability company in the state of Iowa there are two ways to form an LLC in Iowa you can form one yourself or you can hire a service to do it for you let's start by looking at the five basic requirements to form an LLC in Iowa on your own you can also find these steps and more detail on our website linked in the description below one name your LLC every state has its own rules about what kind of names are allowed for LLC's in general you will need to observe these naming guidelines your name must include the phrase limited liability company for one of its abbreviations LLC or LLC with a period following 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 State Department etc you cannot use a name that has already been registered to see if your name is available in your state you'll need to do a name search this free service is available on your state's Secretary of State website check out our free guide for finding the direct link to your state we also recommend that you check to see if your business name is available as a web domain even if you don't plan to make a business website today you may want to buy the URL in order to prevent others from requiring it to choose a registered agent Iowa requires that you nominate a registered agent for your LLC who is your business's point of contact with the state the registered agent can be an individual within the company including yourself or you can hire a professional service authorized to do business in Iowa they will send and receive legal papers on your behalf these documents include official correspondence like legal summons and document filings which your registered agent will receive and forward to you your mr. agent will help remind you to file the necessary reports failure to properly maintain your LLC can result in fines and dissolution so this assistance is valuable 3 file the certificate of organization to register your iowa LLC you will need to file the certificate of organization with the state of iowa this can be done online you should also decide whether your LLC will be member managed or manager managed member managed means all members of the LLC manage the company this is good for small organizations where everyone is involved in the day-to-day operations the second option is manager managed where individuals are appointed to manage the LLC this is appropriate for larger organizations where not everyone is involved in the day-to-day affairs of the business 4 create an operating agreement although not every state requires it you should always create an operating agreement to establish ownership terms and member roles for your LLC this foundational document is the core of your LLC and will help you maintain your organization as well as further establish your LLC is a separate legal entity there are six main sections of an operating agreement organization outlines when and where the company was created who the members are and how the ownership is structured management and voting addresses how the company is managed as well as how the members vote capital contributions covers which members financially support the LLC and how more funds will be raised in the future distributions outlines how the company's profits and losses are shared among members membership changes describes the process for adding or removing members as well as if and when members can transfer their ownership shares and dissolution which explains the circumstances in which the LLC may be dissolved an operating agreement is an internal document it does not need to be filed with the state however it should be updated every time there is a change in membership or management at the company you can download a free sample operating agreement or create a custom one using our free operating agreement tool at how to start an LLC com 5 obtain an EIN lastly you'll need to get an employer identification number or ein from the IRS also known as a federal tax identification number your EIN is like a social security number for your LLC and it's at IRS tracks your business for tax purposes an ein is also necessary to open a business banking account and legally hire employees EW ends are free of charge and can be obtained from the IRS online or through the mail and with that you'll have formed an Iowa LLC on your own option to hire professional service the second way to create an iowa LLC is to hire professional service to create your LLC for you hiring a professional service to file your forms and act as your registered agent for the LLC will cost you an additional fifty to one hundred and fifty dollars however there are several benefits to working with a pro a higher registered agent helps with getting your reports filed on time helps you stay organized by keeping your business mail separate and is available at all regular business hours to accept official mail and legal papers on your LLC's behalf a final and important additional benefit of using a services privacy a professional service will provide a level of privacy by withholding your personal name and home address from the LLC's contact information there are many reasons why you might not want your personal information easily accessible and associated with your business hiring a professional LLC formation service is an easy way to accomplish this now that you have seen the different requirements and ways you can form an LLC in iowa visit our site and take some time to research your options and establish a solid foundation for your business activities click on the links in the description below to research the top five professional formation services or get more information on how to form an iowa LLC on your own now you know all the steps to form an LLC in your state for a more detailed guide go to how to start an LLC com you can also create an operating agreement and use our business plan tool free of charge give the video a like if you found it useful and subscribe if you'd like to see more and if you have questions or encounter any roadblocks leave a comment below good luck and starting your small business you
Thanks Toshia your participation is very much appreciated
- Silas Failde
About the author
I've studied counseling psychology at Appalachian College of Pharmacy in Oakwood and I am an expert in thermal engineering. I usually feel not specified. My previous job was pharmacy technician I held this position for 11 years, I love talking about beach volleyball and rapping. Huge fan of Oscar Wilde I practice hurling and collect film posters.
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