One of the first choices you’ll need to make when beginning a business is whether to operate as a DBA (Doing Business As) or an LLC (Limited Liability Company). A DBA is a trade name used by a company to do business. It permits the use of a name other than the owner’s legal name for the company. In contrast, an LLC is a separate legal entity from its owners. It provides liability protection to its owners, shielding their personal assets from the business’s liabilities and legal actions.
A sort of business where the owner and operator are the same person is known as a sole proprietorship. J.K. Rowling, Wolfgang Puck, and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia are a few well-known sole proprietorship companies.
An LLC is regarded as a distinct legal person from its owners. This indicates that the company is accountable for its own commitments and debts and that its owners are not personally responsible for them. An LLC also provides tax flexibility because it can elect to be taxed as a corporation, partnership, or sole proprietorship.
A DBA would read “John Smith, doing business as Smith’s Landscaping.” As a result, John Smith is able to conduct business using a name different than his given one. It’s crucial to understand that conducting business under a DBA does not shield the owner of the company from liabilities.
Finally, it should be noted that obtaining an EIN in Missouri is free and simple to do through the IRS website. It’s crucial to take your business’s needs for tax flexibility and liability protection into account when choosing between a DBA and LLC. Even though sole proprietorship companies like Wolfgang Puck and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia have had remarkable success, it’s crucial to be aware of the dangers that could arise from running a sole proprietorship.
No, a sole proprietorship and a fictional name are not the same thing. A fictitious name is a name that a business employs in place of its legal name. It is often referred to as a “doing business as” (DBA) name. A sole proprietorship, on the other hand, is a sort of business entity where a single person owns and runs the company as their own asset.