Howdy hellscream!
The Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs has their "Step
by Step Guide to Starting a Business in Illinois" at:
http://www.illinoisbiz.biz/bus/step_by_step.html
You will want to read everything on that page, including their very good
advice of:
"There are several ways to organize businesses in Illinois. They are Sole
Proprietorships, General and Limited Partnerships, Limited Liability
Partnerships (LLP), Limited Liability Companies (LLC), "S" Corporations
and "C" Corporations. Before selecting a business type, consult an attorney
or accountant for assistance in determining which one is best for your
business."
They go on to describe the various forms of organizing your business.
They have a link which states "Choosing A Business Name When the business
name is different from the owner's full legal name, the "Assumed Name Act"
requires you to register the business name with your county clerk's office,
regardless to the structure of the business." You can check the availability
of a corporate name at the State of Illinois Business Services' CORPORATE/LLC
INFORMATION SEARCH page:
http://www.sos.state.il.us/departments/business_services/corpnames.html
"By checking our database, we can tell you if the name appears to be used by
another company registered to do business in Illinois."
The FAQ also mentions:
"In Illinois, most business are required to be registered and/or licensed by
the IDOR. If you plan to hire employees, buy or sell products wholesale or
retail, or manufacture goods, you must register with the IDOR. To obtain the
IDOR's Business Registration Kit, contact:"
https://pki.revenue.state.il.us/app/ibr/
Chances are you will need to get an Employer ID Number (EIN), even if you
don't have any employees, so a visit to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
website is in order. They have other resources for business as well.
http://www.irs.ustreas.gov/businesses/
Specific information on EINs.
http://www.irs.ustreas.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=98350,00.html
According to the IRS site, it might be relatively easy for you to get an EIN.
http://www.irs.ustreas.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=97859,00.html
"The following states participate in the Fedstate Federal Employer
Identification Number (EIN) project and allow businesses to apply for an
EIN from their state office."
The list indicates that Illinois is one such state.
They also have information on starting a business.
http://www.irs.ustreas.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=99336,00.html
MyCorporation Business Services, Inc has an LLC Frequently Asked Questions
(FAQ) page which covers some possible liability issues.
http://www.mycorporation.com/llcfaq.htm
They also have a page on the advantages of forming an LLC at:
http://www.mycorporation.com/llcadv.htm
They have a chart that compares liability, etc. of different types of
business structures.
http://www.mycorporation.com/llcforms.htm
The United States Patent and Trademark (USPTO) office has information on
trademark registration.
http://www.uspto.gov/main/trademarks.htm
Their site includes a trademark FAQ.
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/tac/tmfaq.htm
The FAQ goes into "classes" of trademarks, which might come into play as
you expand your company, as there are different classes for some services,
such as internet operations, and other services such a print material.
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/tac/tmfaq.htm#Application018
You will want to "lock-in" a domain name as well, so you should go to the
Network Solutions "WHOIS" page to check domain name availability.
http://www.networksolutions.com/cgi-bin/whois/whois
The best order of doing things:
- Check to see if your company name isn't one that is obviously
trademarked, keeping in mind all the caveats on the USPTO web site
about trademark availability.
- Check the State of Illinois site to make sure the company name
has not been taken on that level.
- Register your domain name.
- Form your company with Illinois as an LLC or corporation (LLCs are
usually easier to form and deal with, while corporations might provide
you more liability protection) and apply for your EIN at the same time.
- It looks like you will have to register the company name at your county
clerk's office according to the "Assumed Name Act" mentioned above.
- Register your business with the State of Illinois.
- File for your federal trademark as soon as you can after the above.
Search strategy (combined with personal knowledge of the IRS and USPTO
services as well as starting and running my own (LLC) company.):
Illinois LLC
://www.google.com/search?&q=Illinois+LLC
If you need any clarification or more details, feel free to ask!
Looking Forward, denco-ga |
