How To Register Your Business As A Small Business
For most small businesses registering your business is as simple as registering your business name with state and local governments.
How to register your business as a small business. For most people registering your business falls into the latter group. The decision of whether or not to incorporate your small business is one you need to consider when you decide to start a small business. Register your business name. Other popular business structure options include a limited liability company llc or corporation c corp. If you conduct business as yourself using your legal name you won t need to register anywhere.
Registering a company name costs 12 online at companies house and can be paid by debit or credit card or paypal account. Postal applications take 8 10 days and cost 40. In some cases you don t need to register at all. As a business operator you ll also need to comply with state income tax and employment laws. But if you re starting a sole proprietorship or a partnership operating under a name that isn t your own e g your name is john smith but you want your business name to be something else you may need to file a dba a doing business as name.
The us small business administration is an independent federal agency that works to assist and protect the interests of american small businesses by delivering the answers support and resources small businesses need to start up succeed and grow. You can register as a limited liability corporation llc corporation partnership or as a sole proprietorship. If you need to register immediately you must apply online at companies house before 3pm and pay an additional 100 fee. To qualify for an award of a small business contract you must first be registered as a small business the following steps are required to certify your business as small and obtain the registration necessary to bid on government proposals. A company is usually registered within 24 hours.
Some aspects of starting a new business are exciting and glamorous. You will need to file for a company name that will identify your business in the memorandum of incorporation. Obtain a unique data universal numbering system d u n s number external. A dba can also be used by existing llcs and. If you have a small one person operation or run your business with your spouse you may choose to register as a sole proprietorship.
This article is part of our how to start a business playbook which covers topics like finding the right business idea writing a business plan and finding small business loans. A sales tax permit will let you legally collect sales tax from customers. Next comes registering your name. The sba community is an interactive extension of the site and features a variety of discussion boards and blogs that allow business owners to. As a rule you ll need to register your business with your state s revenue office you may also need to apply for a tax permit e g.