- [Instructor] 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 your started on the right path
to picking a solid business name in Nevada.
Nevada is an excellent place to start a business.
With great economic growth prospects
and the lowest income tax in the nation,
Nevada ranks third in the country for entrepreneurship.
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 Nevada.
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 name's availability.
Be sure to ask yourself the seven essential
questions we provide before you
make this critical business decision.
(calm music)
One, 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 LLCs 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 partnership's 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 L.L.C,
with a period in between each letter.
Your name can not include words
that could confuse your LLC with a government agency,
such as FBI, Treasury or State Department.
Here are some state specific requirements for Nevada LLCs.
Nevada requires you to get approval
to use certain words in your LLC's name.
You need approval from the Nevada State Board
of Accounting to use the following words,
accountant, accountancy, accounting, auditor,
auditing, certified public accountant and CPA.
You need approval from the
Nevada Commissioner of Financial Institutions
to use the following words,
bank, banc, banque, savings and loan,
banker, bancard, banq, thrift, banking,
banco, bancor, trustee, interbanking, bancorp,
credit union, debt collection,
collection agency or trust.
You need approval from the State Commissioner of Insurance
to use the following words,
adjuster, indemnity, reinsurance,
underwriter, annuity, insurance,
risk retention group, underwriting,
casualty, life and accident, surety,
bail, bail bonds, fugitive recovery,
bail bondsman, bounty hunter and bale.
You need approval from the Commissioner of Mortgage
lending to use the following words,
financial, mortgage and mortgage banking.
You need approval from the
State Board of Professional Engineers
to use the following words,
engineer, engineered, engineering,
professional engineer,
registered engineer and licensed engineer.
You need approval from the State Board of Architecture,
Interior Design and Residential Design
to use the following words,
architect, architecture, registered architect,
licensed architect, registered interior designer,
registered interior design, residential designer,
registered residential designer,
licensed residential designer
and residential design.
You need approval from
the Administrator of the Real Estate Division
of the Department of Business and Industry
to use the words common-interest community,
community association, master association,
unit-owners' association and homeowners' association.
You need approval from the Ombudsman
to include the following words,
common-interest community, community association,
HOA, home owners association, master association,
unit-owners association and property owners.
You also need approval to use the following words,
college, university and higher education.
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 Nevada corporations.
Nevada requires you to get approval
to use certain words in your corporation's name.
You need approval from the Nevada State Board of Accounting
to use the following words,
accountant, accountancy, accounting, auditor,
auditing, certified public accountant and CPA.
You need approval from
the Nevada Commissioner of Financial Institutions
to use the following words,
bank, banc, banque, savings and loan,
banker, bancard, banq, thrift, banking, banco, bancor,
trustee, interbanking, bancorp, credit union,
debt collection, collection agency or trust.
You need approval from
the State Commissioner of Insurance
to use the following words,
adjuster, indemnity, reinsurance,
underwriter, annuity, insurance,
risk retention group, underwriting, casualty,
life and accident, surety, bail, bail bonds,
fugitive recovery, bail bondsman,
bounty hunter and bale.
You need approval from
the Commissioner of Mortgage
lending to use the following words,
financial, mortgage and mortgage banking.
You need approval from
the State Board of Professional Engineers
to use the following words,
engineer, engineered, engineering, professional engineer,
registered engineer and licensed engineer.
You need approval from the State Board of Architecture,
Interior Design and Residential Design
to use the following words,
architect, architecture, registered architect,
licensed architect, registered interior designer,
registered interior design, residential designer,
registered residential designer,
licensed residential designer and residential design.
You need approval from the Administrator of the Real Estate
Division of the Department of Business and Industry
to use the words common-interest community,
community association, master association,
unit-owners' association and homeowners' association.
You need approval from the Ombudsman
to include the following words,
common-interest community, community association,
HOA, home owners association, master association,
unit-owners association and property owners.
You also need approval to use the following words,
college, university and higher education.
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 a corporation.
If your business is taxed as an S-Corp,
follow Nevada's naming requirements
for the business structure you chose.
For all business structures,
your name must be distinguishable
from other existing businesses in Nevada.
A couple examples of names not being distinguishable
would be Auto Store Inc. versus Auto Store 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 Auto Store Inc.,
Auto Store 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 & Smith using an ampersand.
Your business name can't have words
that sound identical to another
business with a different spelling.
Boys Inc. with an S
and Boyz Inc. with a Z are not distinguishable.
Two, 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 in use.
When deciding what to name your business,
decide on your branding strategy using these three options.
Do you want your business' 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?
Hewlett Packar 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 in 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 is a possibility that your clients
call you by a nickname that 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 wanna 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 in 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 business 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 attention,
but not one that will make you seem
unprofessional compared to other companies.
Did I avoid trends?
Naming your business based on trends might
give you a small boost in initial customers,
but you'll end up dating
your business when the trend fades away.
What may be a funny joke or reference at the time,
will fade away and no one will understand.
Is my name memorable or is it too narrow or literal?
Although you want a simple name
and one that describes your business' mission,
you don't want one so unoriginal
that it won't stand out in a crowd.
You want to convey your niche or your uniqueness,
and your name is a great place to do that.
Three, complete name searches.
Once you've narrowed down to just a few names,
you'll want to check to make sure the names are available.
The first and most important
search is Nevada's business database.
If the name is not available,
you'll have to adjust your name
or use a different one.
We provide instructions to search your business name
in Nevada on howtostartanLLC.com linked below.
Searching is free.
To learn more,
visit Nevada naming guides linked in the description below.
After confirming your name is available in Nevada,
we recommend doing a domain search
to see if the name is available as a URL.
Even if you don't plan on making a website today,
we recommend buying your domain
in order to prevent others from acquiring it.
Next, do a quick search
on the US trademark electronic search system,
and see whether someone has already trademarked your name.
Once you know the name is available,
you can choose to apply for a trademark for your business,
but the cost is between 225 and $600,
which may be more than you want to pay for a startup.
Naming your business can be one of the most important
and one of the most fun steps in starting your business.
When deciding on your business name,
you'll want to first determine your business'
structure to make sure you are following
all naming requirements of your business type.
You'll also want to check the naming
requirements that are specific to Nevada.
Think about your branding,
how your name will affect your brand
and if you want to have a separate
brand name from your business' legal name.
After brainstorming some ideas,
you'll want to check
and see if they are available in your state
and do a quick web search to see
if they are available as a web domain.
Once you've searched on the state level and online,
look to see if any of your brainstormed
ideas are trademarked.
Now you know all the steps to name your business.
For a more detailed guide,
visit our website at howtostartanLLC.com.
Give the video a like if you found it useful,
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And if you have questions or encounter any roadblocks,
leave a comment below.
Good luck in starting your small business.