DBA's & Sole Proprietors: WHAT'S IN A NAME?

After 20+ years in small business development I have noticed a common thread in most of my clients and students. Most give either too much or too little attention to the business name. No, I am not going to give you the definition of DBA (Doing Business As). I leave that to Phil and Nellie Akalp of MyCorporation.com. Go to DBA: Fictitious Business Name Filings for a very excellent, concise definition. In brief, you create and file a DBA:

As a sole proprietor, to create a formal business name for your company as opposed to simply using your personal, legal name.

As a corporation or LLC you can file a DBA in a state instead of having to form a completely new business enterprise in a jurisdiction (state) outside the one in which your company legally resides. So what's the big deal about your business name and why am I addressing the sole proprietor? A business' name can impacts image, communicate the product or service offered and can go a long way toward helping develop advertising strategies, especially on the Internet. And sole proprietors rely on the DBA process to create a form of instant legitimacy that cannot be associated with your legal name. Besides, the growth of self-employment and proprietorships has been phenomenal in recent times. For example, in two years (1997 to 1999) proprietorships grew 57% from 17.2 million to 27.1 million.^[1]

Image

Let's face it. "Stephen Windhaus" is not as attractive as "Windhaus Associates". Who is Stephen Windhaus and what does it mean to me. I have absolutely no clue. Windhaus Associates, on the other hand, clearly indicates there is a business enterprise here. It doesn't say anything about what this company does, but it certainly detracts from the fact the company is a home-based business, a location status still not recognized as positive by some in the consuming public. Granted, an established, good image does not come from name alone, but you do want to create a DBA that lends itself to helping you establish and build on your positive image.

Communicating Your Product or Service

Now let's take this a step further – Windhaus Plumbing Contactors. There you go. Immediately, we now know this is a plumbing services company and it very likely operates in the residential and/or commercial construction industries. Windhaus Associates could mean anything, but it does not convey anything about what the company offers in products or services.

DBA Impact on Advertising

Already, I have conveyed two issues that impact your advertising strategy, and there are more:

The mere fact you are using a DBA instead of your personal legal name improves the image, making it easier on your advertising strategy.

That your DBA includes the products or services offered immediately advertises your company, even if nothing but the company name is mentioned in the media.

Including your company name in a simple alphabetical listing of companies that does not categorize by industry still tells the reader what you offer.

How search engines on the Internet list a company has demanded an even greater level of attention to company names. And if you are an e-commerce firm or one that relies heavily on the Internet for revenues the importance of the DBA becomes equally important to any other subject of company advertising. Take the example of DeZines Web Hosting Corporation. Yes, this is a corporation, but its name still offers many excellent examples for the self-employed and proprietorships:

"DeZines" instead of "Designs" reflects a company very aware of the verbal culture on the Internet. This is an example of image.

"Web Hosting" clearly states what this company does.

You can be certain the company name makes advertising messages much easier to create and communicate.

For those not too aware of how search engines rank listings, it is important to learn that a company name reflecting the type of product or service offered, and to have a website URL that reflects that service or product will likely result in a very high ranking.
Certainly, there are many questions you may have beyond what has been conveyed here. View the MyCorporation.com DBA FAQ's for more legal, financial and tax details. And I sincerely tell you the MyCorporation.com DBA/Fictitious Name Registration fee structure is very competitive. I should know. I submitted all of my paperwork for the state, local newspaper notice publication and fees years before knowing about this website.