Hi Ryan, You're asking very good questions and I think your desire to want to be a legitimate (i.e., legal) business entity is good and admirable. What ChristineL said was correct. Here's a tip that I learned. If you choose to form an LLC, the official legal business name is the name under which you register the LLC. However, if you choose to establish a sole proprietorship, then you need to also register a DBA ('Doing Business As') name if you wish to do business under a name other than your birth name. This is because a sole-proprietorship's legal business name by default is the owners' birth name: What is the 'legal name' of my business? The legal name of a business is the official name of the person or entity that owns a business. If you are the only owner of your business, then its legal name is simply your full name. If your business is a general partnership, and you have a written partnership agreement that gives a name to the partnership, then that name is the legal name of the business. Otherwise, the legal name of a general partnership consists of the last names of the owners. For limited partnerships, LLCs, and corporations, the legal name of the business is the name registered with the state filing office. Your business's legal name will be required on all government forms and applications, and is particularly important to use on your application for a federal employer identification number. (from nolo[dot].com, a business law advice site) This distinction is important because in many cases, you will have to pay a registration fee to register as an LLC with the Feds, as well as pay your county clerk's office to file a d/b/a application. When I was first starting out, I had little startup capital so every penny saved was important. Having to pay one fee instead of two was preferable. (see also http://community2.business.gov/t5/Starting-Registering-a-Business/What-Is-the-Best-Business-Entity-Structure-IYHO/m-p/17029#M2383) The Business.Gov site explains it thus: Legal Names. A business's legal name is the name of the person or entity that owns the business. It is the name you use to file government forms and applications. For sole proprietors, this means that your business's legal name is your personal legal name, as in Mary Smith.' Other business structures use the name documented in a partnership agreement, the combined last names of partners, or the name that is registered with your state government as their legal name. Regardless of the type of business you have, you only file the legal name of your business with your state as described below. I take this to mean that, for example, if you want your trade name, fictitious name or 'doing business as' name to be the same as your LLC legal name, then a d/b/a is unnecessary. But, if you wanted to register the LLC as, say, XYZ Corp, but operate under a trade name in a specific county as ABC Corp, where ABC Corp is not for legal matters but only for a trade name or brand name or fictitious name (I think they're all more or less interchangeable here), then you WOULD have to file a d/b/a with your county clerk. The d/b/a would say something to the effect of 'XYZ Corp d/b/a ABC Corp in [County, State]'. The way I see it: a d/b/a is more of a county requirement. The LLC is a state registration. It would be like 'Wal-Mart Corporation' being the Corporation legal name, but Wal-Mart's are in every county just about, and they do business as simply 'Wal-Mart'. So they would need a d/b/a in each county where they have a store that says 'Wal-Mart.' There is also a good tool on the Business.Gov site for determining which registrations, licenses and / or permits you may need in your state - http://www.business.gov/register/licenses-and-permits/

Hi Christine,   Thanks for the explanation! So if I wanted to cover all bases, I'd have to register both FBN for my business name and LLC for my business structure?   -Ryan

LLC and fictitious business names are two different things. LLC is a type of business structure and a FBN is a type of business name. A fictitious name or a DBA (doing business as) name, is the name under which business is conducted. Think of it as the nickname for your business - not a legal identity, but the name that everyone recognizes the business as. For example, Mary Smith owns a business called Seaside Catering, but files her business under Mary Smith. Mary Smith' is the legal name while Seaside Catering' is the trade name. You file your business's trade name with your county or your state, depending on the state your business is located in. Learn more about different types of business structures here.

Hello,   The main difference would be operating as a sole proprietor under a fictitous business name and as a Limited Liability Company (LLC) would be the seperation of the owner's personal assets away from the business activities when operating as an LLC. Depending on the potential risks in the business (potential for having legal claims filed againts the business) a business owner may want to to limit risking personal assets. The single owner LLC is still techniaclly the sole proprietor of the LLC. The LLC may choose to be taxed as a sole proprietor or as a corporation.