“DBA” means “doing business as.” It does not mean “sole proprietorship” because partnerships and LLCs and corporations can “do business as,” or use a fictitious name. If your question is about what you think is a sole proprietorship, it can only have one owner.

Yes, you can have multiple businesses under one LLC. Whether that LLC has any DBAs (Fictitious Names) is up to you. Meaning, you don’t have to file a DBA to run multiple businesses under one LLC, but you certainly can file a DBA (or multiple DBAs) if you’d like.

As a way of protecting their investments; Record labels do not willingly allow artists signed under them to go off and sign another deal with another record label. However, loopholes in the record contract can make it possible for artists to get away with signing to another label.

No, a DBA is not a legal entity. If you register a DBA without first forming some type of legal entity, your state will automatically recognize your business as a sole proprietorship.

A DBA is not a type of business, but a registration that serves only one purpose – it gives you the ability to do business under a new name. If you form an LLC, you will enjoy benefits beyond name registration, such as limiting your personal liability for the debts of the business.

It’s easy to change your DBA to an LLC, and it doesn’t take much time. You can do this yourself or you can have an attorney or online legal service do the paperwork for you. Either way, if you convert your business to an LLC, you can now separate your personal assets from the company’s assets.

Registering for a DBA allows you to transact business under the fictitious name instead of your personal name. Your bank requires a DBA to open a business bank account. A DBA can be filed in order for a company to transact business under the company’s domain name.

For example, business owner John Smith might file the Doing Business As name “Smith Roofing.” Corporations and limited liability companies (LLCs) may register DBA names for specific lines of business. For example, Helen’s Food Service Inc. might register the DBA “Helen’s Catering.”

The biggest difference between a DBA and an LLC is liability protection. Under a DBA, there is no distinction between the business owner and the business. On the other hand, an LLC provides limited liability protection. The business owners’ personal property remains completely separate from the business.

An LLC is considered a pass-through entity—also called a flow-through entity—which means it pays taxes through an individual income tax code rather than through a corporate tax code. In addition to LLCs, sole proprietorships, S Corporations, and partnerships are all pass-through businesses. C Corporations are not.

No Special Tax Benefits: Unlike a corporation, filing a DBA that is not part of an LLC or another ‘corporate umbrella’ will not give you any special tax benefits. Your business’ revenues will be passed on to your individual tax return and taxed accordingly.

The proper way to write your Legal name for DBA is to write your “doing business as” name exactly the way you register it at the Secretary of State. For example, if John H. Doe is a sole proprietor and he wants to open a barber shop under the name “Precision Barber Shop”, he can register the name with his State.

What’s the difference between a company name vs DBA? A company name is the actual name of the business, while a trade name or DBA is a way of doing business under a particular name filed in a state or county. A DBA is an alias and is not an actual business entity. It has to be associated with a legal entity.

A legal name is the name of a person or entity that owns a business. A trade name is sometimes referred to as a “fictitious” or “doing business as (DBA)” title. For example, “McDonald’s” may be the trade name, but the legal name is “McDonald’s Corporation.” A trademark is a brand name.

Whenever signing a business contract, use your complete legal business name. If you have incorporated, your business is its own entity and should be treated as such in the contract. Your legal name as an individual should not be listed.

Yes, as long as the nickname is sufficient to identify you as party to the contract, but generally a full legal name is better able to do this. Example: Brian James Smith is more identifiable than BJ Smith.