The legal and trade names of the business should be registered with the state of its operation. To receive an application to register the name of the business, you may contact the department in your state that handles this service. For example, in the State of Maryland, the Department of Assessment and Taxation offers this service. You should fill out an application and mail it to the appropriate office in your state with a check or money order for the required fees.
Before you fill out the application to register the business name, you may want to call and check on the availability of the name that you have chosen. Find out if any other business is using the name in your area (or even in another part of the country). Many offices are now computerized, someone may be able to quickly check the name on the computer and let you know immediately whether that name is already being used by another business in that state. If you have access to the Internet, you may be able to check on the name availability yourself. However, all state offices do not provide the name availability computerized service. If this name is not being used by another business, then the state will allow you to register and use the name that you have chosen as the legal name for your business. To register, simply fill out the required paperwork and submit it to the appropriate office.
Do a trademark search to find out if the name is registered as a trademark. You may contact a professional trademark company to do the search or you can do it yourself on your personal computer. Remember, do not use famous names.
Copyright
Posts Tagged ‘Small Business’
Small Business Starting – Choosing a Name for Your Business 2
April 26th, 2010Small Business Starting – Why Join Business Organizations And Associations?
April 26th, 2010
Joining several organizations and associations such as Chamber of Commerce, trade associations, and actively participating in them is a way to get the word out about your business. As a member of the organization, you can do networking with other members to promote your business. These are the people that you can depend on to buy your product or service. They will be your loyal customers, because they know you.
You will need to contact the right people and organizations that are related to your needs just like any other successful venture. For example, if you want to attend the meeting of an association to network with others to get the word out about your ideas and projects, then contact them and make plans to do it. Take time to review the various organizations and associations to see if there is one you would like to contact for information and membership.
Networking with others at trade shows can be a great advantage to you regardless of whether you are obtaining information or trying to sell your products. Many associations distribute monthly newsletters to keep their members informed about important issues in their field. The organization may give them information on topics such as the best color to use this year, the best place to market your product, software to keep up with inventory, updated equipment, and places to find supplies.
Many associations offer their members small business benefits such as discounts on rental cars, hotels, and health insurance. They tell you everything you need to know to become successful in what you are doing. You have the chance to learn from the professionals how to increase your production and decrease your cost. If you join the association that supports your project, they will encourage you to attend seminars on your topic. They will also teach you how to succeed at trade shows. It is to your advantage to get a calendar and keep a schedule of the trade shows in your area.
By: Dr. Mary E. Waters
Quality and Small Business
April 22nd, 2010
For many years, the concept of quality has turned into a matter of consideration by the majority of businesses. Large corporations, thanks to their extensive means, have been working on quality for over 30 years. However, with SMBs, it is more recent and some still don’t give it the importance that it deserves.
The concept of the SMB includes a wide spectrum of organizations, ranging from freelance employers to companies with hundreds of employees and companies with very few employees that manage gigantic businesses, although, this last example is difficult to classify. quality is important for all of them.
Every day it’s more important for SMBs to invest in the concept of quality as this is the way that will help them to be more competitive, reduce costs and be more efficient. The goal should be to eliminate manual, disorganized and disjointed processes, which comprise a cultivating mix for errors, poor production, unsatisfied customers and, definitely less business.
The easiest thing to do is to blame the government and public agencies for all the bad things we complain about. I won’t be the one to defend the government, not only because it doesn’t provide help for businesses, but because we’re its favorite source of revenue, an area where it demonstrates surprising efficiency. However, taking on our problems and confronting them with same enterprising spirit that led each of us to start our businesses should be the goal that permits us to create new opportunities, a future and hope. If we put our focus on optimizing our processes, avoiding repetitive work, decreasing simple manual and low quality work, and taking it to higher levels in order to provide new developmental opportunities for our employees, then we’ll be achieving real efficiency based on an optimized system, free of errors and executed by people who feel part of a common adventure.
Quality, how it’s considered by the auditing and certifying companies, is meant to assure the continuation of the business and guarantee the same level of efficiency and quality, independent of people and circumstances. However, the biggest benefit of quality comes from achieving the maximum optimization we can when we analyze the internal administration of our businesses and, with a critical spirit, we attempt to eliminate unnecessary work, improve procedures and, what’s very important, utilize technology to perform and control repetitive work which usually is the cause of the majority of problems as it is usually performed very frequently and sometimes by people not familiar with it. It’s mainly in this area where information technology can be an invaluable tool for improving the administration of our businesses.
In my case, for many years I’ve put great effort in optimizing our processes, in correctly using the technology that’s available to us today, and I can assure that such effort has produced excellent results.
I have no doubt that the medium-size businessman thinks that the cost of technology is too high and that it’s a luxury that can wait. This idea is erroneous since the cost of technology can quickly pay for itself with the great savings it provides.
From my modest position, I encourage the small and medium size businessmen to dedicate one day, behind closed doors, to analyze their business processes, to try to imagine how they can be optimized and then to look for the technical accessory that will permit them to transform their new ideas into a successful reality.
By: Julio Olivares
