So you've got this great idea...

One morning you wake up and jump out of bed with this amazingly perfect idea for a money making business. You have already decided on the most perfect and catchy name for the company that says it all.... You are all gun-ho and you belly-up to the computer to research where to start. Before you begin preparing documents to legally form this business, check the company name with the Secretary of State. There is nothing as disappointing as finding out upon filing of the formation documents that the name of your company is not available for use.

The first thing you should do when you have a bu sines epiphany is check the name availability with the Secretary of State prior to setting up the company. It is the first thing you should look into, because if the name you want to identify your business is not available, you may want to use a d/b/a (doing business as). So, your first step should be to check name availability and if need be, reserve the name with the Secretary of State to hold that name until you are ready to file all of your formation paperwork.

If you intend to have a web presence, I would suggest checking domain name availability as well. Also, you should do a search on the major search engines (Google, Yahoo, MSN) for your product description to see what your competitors names are and how many of them are out there. It would be ideal to have your web reflect the same business name as with the state. Sometimes you have to adjust your company name to what is available. That is one of the reason's why I chose Illinois Registered Agent, Inc. the name has many variations on the web, but in my case, this is exactly what my business is.

Illinois Registered Agent, Inc.