The Government Is Here to Help You
Can the U.S. government actually help you with your small business? It certainly has no shortage of rules, regulations and hoops for you to jump through. But, it makes up for some of that with actual help for the small business owner. The feds even have set up a little something called the Small Business Administration.
They even have a link to “How to Name Your Business!” Great! But when you follow it, you don’t get what you expect… instead, you get something better: a checklist of legal steps and recommended procedures to protect the very clever name you do think up! Turns out, it is very important — perhaps vital — to not only protect your business name, but to protect yourself from choosing a name someone is already using!
In fact, the more important factor may well be to prevent yourself from using something that someone else is already using. The potential damage from that happening can overwhelm any business with lawsuits. Even a “cease-and-desist” of using your company name can result in a dumpster filled with thousands of dollars-worth of freshly printed brochures, business cards and stationery. And that’s the second-best case scenario! (Best case is not getting caught at all, but don’t hold your breath for that!)
