Things You'll Need:
- Business name
- Social security number
- Physical address
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Step 1
Check your business name to make sure it's available on a site like LegalZoom.com. Or you can do an Internet search for the name to see if anything comes up or you can contact the state's office to see if it is already taken. Your state business site can be found through Google if you don't know it already. The state will check the name for you if you don't do it yourself because they won't file it under that same name as an existing business.
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Step 2
Go to your state's business site (i.e., Sunbiz.org for Florida) or to a major site like LegalZoom. You can do an Internet search to "register a new business in _ _ _ _" and that state's site will be listed. Or you can go down to your city or county's courthouse and they can direct you to the right place there. If you visit a site like LegalZoom.com, it is a full service site. All you have to do is fill in your info and they do all of the filing with the state for you and they just mail you your documents that you put up in a safe place for your records. It's a full service company, but it cost about twice the price as it would if you did it yourself.
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Step 3
Once you get to the site, it will instruct you to fill in the blanks with all the info they need to file your new business name. Whether you are on your state's business site or a full service site, will determine how much actual work you'll have to do yourself. If you do it yourself through the state site you will end up having to go down to the court house to pay a small fee and complete registration, but if you do it through a full service site they will send you papers in the mail to sign and send back. Then when they send you your final letter stating that you are registered with the IRS then you can go down to the bank and set up your account with your EIN number that they will also provide.
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Step 4
After you've set up on one of the sites, make sure you print out the confirmation pages that they give you. You will need the confirmation page to open up your business bank account or for any investigators or concerned parties that want to know you are running a legit business.
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Step 5
Then when it is all set up and you've received papers in the mail, make sure you file at your home in a filing cabinet or safe place so that you will have them whenever you are ready to open your bank account. You may also want to put a copy of your registration inside of your business location if it's not run from home.
