How To Register Your Business Name In California

California Business concern Startup Guide

The California State Seal

Starting a new business organisation in California is an exciting and rewarding experience, but it won't be a walk in the park. If yous're going to hit the footing running, you need to take the necessary steps to build a potent foundation on which yous can build your success.

In our guide, we break the procedure of starting a business down into viii like shooting fish in a barrel to follow steps.

Note: MyCorporation® can help past handling all of the required filings on your behalf, ensuring your business concern is set upwardly correctly. Cheque out our business organization formations page to get started.

Step 1: Ascertain your business concept.

Every successful business organisation starts the same way, with a skilful idea. No matter what kind of business you programme on starting in California, you need to identify the value or unique service you lot programme to offering.

Be sure to pursue a business idea that aligns with your personal interests, skill ready, and passions. Starting a business takes a lot of work, staying excited and highly motivated will be a huge component of your success.

Check out our industry-specific start upward guides for additional more than help with starting your concern in California:

Start a Consulting Concern
Start a Construction Business
Open up a Restaurant
Starting time a Trucking Business
Open a Retail Concern
Offset a Full general Contractor Business
Start a Professional Service

Footstep 2: Draft a business plan.

A detailed business concern program is a critical footstep that helps you understand your long term goals, and serves as your proof of concept for the futurity success of your concern.

In short, a business plan is your roadmap to profitability. Recollect of a business program as a blueprint, which aims to lay out the fine details of your business alee of time, allowing you to amend prepare for the many challenges that prevarication ahead.

When writing a good business concern plan, you should endeavour to answer the following questions:

What service/product volition your concern offer?
How much will it price to get your business upwards and running, and where volition that funding come from (self or investment)
Who is your target audience, and roughly what is the size of this audition where you lot intend on conducting business?
Who will be your main competitors?

Footstep 3: Cull a business organization name.

The next step will exist to decide on a name for your business. Be certain to choose a name that is memorable and unique, easy to empathize and pronounce, and accurately represents the products or services you program to offer. In the State of California, no two businesses tin can register the aforementioned or "confusingly similar" names. Before you lot file any paperwork with the California Secretary of Land, call back to deport a business proper noun search to determine availability. Jot down one or two alternatives, in example the name you settle on is non available for registration.

If your proper name is available simply you are non ready to register with the state, y'all tin can file for a business name reservation to prevent another concern from taking the name before you file.

Tip: A business proper noun cheque is included with every ane of our business organization formation packages. We check with the state to determine the availability of your business organization name automatically. You can also acquit a nationwide business name search hither.

Pace 4: Fund your startup costs.

It should come as no surprise that you volition need coin to start your business organisation. Determining how you volition fund your business will have an impact on the legal structure you choose, then information technology is important to carefully plan your start up costs up front end. If you demand additional funding, there are a few places you can turn:

Exterior investment:
Venture capitalists and entrepreneurs can be a source of funding, generally in exchange for a pct of ownership in your business. If this is your desired method of fundraising, it is advisable to consider forming a corporation.
Small-scale business loans:
Many banks or lenders will effect a small business organisation loan to help you get upwardly and running. Of course, this money will demand to be paid back with interest, so exist certain to calculate those costs into your financial programme. Take extra fourth dimension when preparing your business plan before yous effort to get your loan, you will nearly probable be required to share information technology with the lender before a loan will be issued.
Family and friends
Loans from friends and family tin can be a great, price efficient way to fund your business organization, reducing the full interest paid. These loans and be in lieu or in add-on to traditional bank loans. Remember, it is still important to get the terms of repayment in writing before accepting any loans, and don't have more than you can pay off in a reasonable fourth dimension period.
Bootstrapping:
Bootstrapping is the procedure of funding your business's startup costs with nothing more than personal savings, reinvesting early on profits back into the business. The advantage of self funding your business organisation is retaining full control and ownership, making it a nifty pick for business with lower startup costs. The downside to this method of funding is the possibility of additional financial strain from the outset.

Pace 5: Choose a business organisation construction.

Registering your business equally a legal entity with the State of California creates separation between y'all and your company. It is this separation that provides you with limited liability protection, an important protection that prevents you lot from existence held personally responsible for lawsuits filed against your business. Creating a legal structure for your business demonstrates credibility and longevity to potential investors and customers, and is an of import stride to edifice a strong foundation for a successful business.

When deciding on a business structure, there are several options to choose from.

Sole Proprietorship : A sole proprietorship is an informal business structure, where an unincorporated business organisation is run by an individual without registration with the country. Operating your business organization as a sole proprietorship is the simplest way to run a business organisation, as all taxation passes straight to the owner. Operating equally a sole proprietorship opens you up to potential legal disaster, since the owner is personally liable for whatever debts or lawsuits filed against the business. While it can exist suitable in certain situations, it is non recommended to run your business every bit a sole proprietorship in California.

Limited Liability Company (LLC) : An LLC is the most common entity type chosen by modest concern owners. A "hybrid entity", it provides the liability protections offered by a standard corporation with the simplicity and flexibility of pass through taxation. LLCs are attractive among small business owners considering they require the least amount of maintenance and most no corporate formalities. This means less tape keeping and fewer annual requirements, leaving you more time to focus on your concern.

Corporation : A C corporation, (sometimes chosen a full general for turn a profit corporation), is the perfect entity for any business looking for a more formal corporate structure. Since corporations allow the issuance of stock, they are mostly more than bonny to entrepreneurs and venture capitalists who may desire to invest in your business concern, making them extremely popular for businesses seeking outside investment. Corporations also provide a business concern with the ability to deduct certain benefits, like employee health insurance and dental plans, which tin can add upwardly to substantial savings per year.

Nonprofit : A nonprofit corporation is a business formed with the purpose of furthering a detail social cause or advocating for a specific betoken of view. Rather than earning a profit, a nonprofit corporation reinvests its revenue to accomplish its objective instead of distributing that income to its shareholders. Typically, nonprofits are funded past donations. Ane unique feature of a nonprofit is that they are eligible for tax exempt status.

DBA (Doing Business Every bit) : A DBA is an official registration of your business organization name. In some states, this tin can be referred to as a "fictitious business name" or "assumed" name. While a DBA is not a business entity, information technology can be filed confronting whatever concern type to legally operate under a business name other than your own. If your business conducts any business - such equally transactions, marketing, advertisement, or printing out business organisation cards - under a proper name that isn't your own name, you will demand to file and register a DBA in California

Step six: Register your concern with the California Secretary of Land.

In one case you accept chosen the all-time structure for your business, the next step is completing your registration with the California Secretarial assistant of State. You can submit your paperwork direct to the state, or MyCorporation can complete and file the required paperwork for you, preventing any potential missteps.

In California, the registration procedure differs slightly entity to entity. Nevertheless, the information you can expect to provide well-nigh your business is pretty much the aforementioned, including the bones business concern details, the business name, and registered agent information.

The basic business details:
Includes the business organisation address, purpose, and buying details.
The business name:
The preferred name of the business organisation yous wish to register and a few alternatives should the desired name be unavailable (recommended).
Registered agent information:
The name and address who will serve as the point of contact to the California Secretary of State for all business related matters. This address must be located in California.

Footstep 7: Get your business licenses and permits.

In California, all businesses are required to file for a full general business license (sometimes referred to as a business organization revenue enhancement certificate). Business licenses are issued by cities and municipalities, and every urban center in California differs in their requirements. If you plan on operating your business in multiple cities, you volition demand to apply for a business concern license in each location. Some boosted permits may be required in addition to a full general business license, which may need to be filed with the county or the state. You can find out about the specific licenses applicable to your business by checking with the city offices where you will comport business, or past using MyCorporation's business license compliance package. Our team of skilled professionals will identify the licenses required by your business and provide you with all the information you demand to file.

Step viii: Prepare a business banking concern account.

In order to maintain the liability protections gained by registering your business, y'all need to carve up your personal finances from your business organization finances. Creating a business bank account is the all-time mode to do this.

In California, mixing your personal finances with your business finances tin can blur the separation between you and your business organisation, putting your personal assets (Home, motorcar, high value assets) at take a chance in the effect your business organization is sued. Separating your finances with a business concern bank account draws a clear line between which assets are yours, and which are owned by your business concern.

In most cases, you will be required to file an EIN ( Employer Identification Number) in order to open a banking concern account. An EIN (besides referred to as a Federal Tax ID) is a nine-digit number that is issued by the IRS and used to uniquely place your concern for tax purposes. Remember of it as a Social Security Number (SSN) for your business, except an EIN is less sensitive. It is important to wait until the LLC has been canonical by the California Secretarial assistant of State earlier applying for an EIN. For that reason, filing for an EIN is i of the last things to do when you lot are setting up a concern.