- [Instructor] Coming up with a business name
is one of the most important steps in forming a business.
Your name effects your branding and your image as a company.
Let's get you started on the right path
to picking a solid business name in Oregon.
Oregon is an excellent place to form a new business.
With low sales tax and fast startup growth,
it ranks eighth in highest economic growth prospects
in the country.
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 Oregon.
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.
(gentle 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.
Restricted words such as bank, attorney, law office, etc.
may require additional paperwork
and may also need a licensed professional
to be part of the LLC.
Your name cannot 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 Oregon LLCs.
Your name cannot include the following:
Cooperative, corporation, corp., incorporated,
Inc., limited partnership, LP,
L.P. with the period after each letter,
Ltd., limited liability partnership, LLP,
or L.L.P. with a period after each letter.
Your name may include the following special characters:
Asterisk, at sign, backslash, left brace, right brace,
caret, dollar sign, equal to sign, greater than sign,
less than sign, number sign, percentage sign,
plus sign, tilde, and underscore.
Your name may include the following punctuation:
Apostrophe, left bracket, right bracket, colon,
comma, dash or hyphen, exclamation point, left parenthesis,
right parenthesis, period, question mark, single quote mark,
double quote mark, semicolon, and slash.
Your name cannot imply in any way that the business
is an agency of the state
or any of its political subdivisions without approval.
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 Oregon corporations.
Your name cannot include the word cooperative.
Your name may include the following special characters:
Asterisk, at sign, backslash, left brace, right brace,
caret, dollar sign, equal to sign, greater than sign,
less than sign, number sign, percentage sign,
plus sign, tilde, and underscore.
Your name may include the following punctuation:
Apostrophe, left bracket, right bracket, colon, comma,
dash or hyphen, exclamation point, left parenthesis,
right parenthesis, period, question mark, single quote mark,
double quote mark, semicolon, and slash.
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 corporation.
If your business is taxed as an S-corp,
follow Oregon's naming requirements
for the business structure you chose.
For all business structures,
your name must be distinguishable
from other existing businesses in Oregon.
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 and use.
When deciding what to name your business
decide on your branding strategy using these three options:
Do you want your business's 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-Packard 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 'til 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
and 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's 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 want to 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 businesses 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's 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 Oregon'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 Oregon on howtostartanllc.com linked below.
Searching is free.
To learn more visit Oregon naming guides
linked in the description below.
After confirming your name is available in Oregon
we recommend doing a domain search to see
if your 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 U.S. 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 start-up.
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's 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 Oregon.
Think about your branding,
how your name will affect your brand,
and if you want to have a separate brand name
from your business's 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,
and subscribe if you'd like to see more,
and if you have questions or encounter any roadblocks,
leave a comment below.
Good luck and starting your small business.
(upbeat music)