Are you interested in forming a limited liability corporation (LLC) for your Tennessee business?
One of the most essential steps in the process of creating your LLC is to conduct a business entity search. This process ensures that the name you’re considering for your business is available and not already in use in the state.
Below is a step-by-step guide to help you with the process of completing your Tennessee business entity search.
In Tennessee, like in other states, a business entity search is essential for one critical reason: You need to make sure that the name you want for your business is unique.
Why?
Imagine if there were 12 businesses in Tennessee named “Jones Electrical LLC.” Such repetition would cause major confusion for people looking to find the specific company they need, whether it’s in Memphis, Nashville, Chattanooga or elsewhere.
It’s important that each of the businesses within the state has its own, distinct name.
Because you need a unique name, conducting the business entity search is an essential step.
A business entity is the legal structure under which you choose to operate your business. An LLC is a popular choice for many business owners in Tennessee, due to the pass-through taxation, the operational flexibility and liability protection the structure offers.
Because your business name needs to be unique to file the paperwork to form the LLC business entity, the name check is a core first step.
Uniqueness is the name of the game when it comes to Tennessee business name guidelines.
The key rule when it comes to naming an LLC is that it “must be distinguishable” from the names of existing corporations, whether for-profit or nonprofit, and other business types.
What makes it distinguishable? In general, it’s a business name that is different by one or more letters and/or words. In addition, it can be distinguishable if the letters or words are in a different order. In addition, singular and plural variants qualify as distinguishable.
The names that your potential name needs to be different from are those that are within the state’s database.
Here are some of the things that do not make a business name distinguishable:
Implications and roles play another key determination in whether a name is allowed.
The state excludes business names that imply the company:
In addition, if the business name uses the words bank, banks, credit union, mortgage or trust, the business must have written approval from the state Department of Financial Institutions.
The state’s determination of distinguishability is based exclusively on a review of names already in its online business name database. It does not check names against those in other states or databases of federal or state trademarks.
When you’re ready to get started with your business name search, here’s what to know.
First, go to the state’s online business name database.
This page is a very simple search engine. The only choice here is to enter a potential name and hit the search button. It will indicate if there are any matches.
At first, it’s helpful to keep your search terms to a minimum to identify any potential matches. You can conduct more granular, detailed searches later.
You can then click on any hits to get more details about that business (we’ll discuss those details later).
The state also suggests that you look at the business information search page, which provides more functionality.
The business information search allows for more search functionality. In addition to a name, you can use “starts with” or “contains” filters. You can also choose to only search for active businesses.
You can also search using the Secretary of State control number, if known. This number is a unique identifier that is assigned to every registered business in the state.
If there’s a match on the search terms, it’s a good idea to look at the details. The information provided gives you an insight into the details the state collects about your business, including:
There are no fees to use either of the online state databases. However, if you would like to download the entire business entity, you can do so.
There is a $1,000 fee to download the entire database, with $50 charges to download activity for either the prior week or month.
The file contains basic business information, such as the mailing address, any assumed names, registered agent information and details about the company’s annual report filings.
Once you’ve scoured the online databases and have decided on your business name, congratulations! You may be asking what to do next.
Here are some of the key steps:
A business name is an important step in the creation of your Tennessee LLC. By following the proper steps and guidelines, you can find the perfect name and make sure it’s exclusively yours for use within the state.
A business entity search ensures that the name you want to use is available and can be used within Tennessee.
Use the Nevada Secretary of State’s Business Search to check whether your name is available.
Go to the business entity search and business name availability sites to see if the name you want to use is available and test versions that would work for your company.
There’s a $20 charge to reserve your LLC name in the state. There are additional costs associated with registering your Tennessee LLC.
Your LLC name must be different from all other business names, include required words like “LLC,” and avoid any restricted or prohibited terms.
In Tennessee, a DBA is called an assumed name. Filing the assumed name is a smart idea to protect your business identity.
There are extensive guidelines that restrict the types of names you can use and cannot use within the state. Be sure to review the guidelines to ensure your name is accepted.
Don’t despair if the name you want is already taken. There are ways, under the guidelines, to look for differences in word order, punctuation and other variances to find one that makes sense. Continue to search until you find the right option.
This portion of our website is for informational purposes only. Tailor Brands is not a law firm, and none of the information on this website constitutes or is intended to convey legal advice. All statements, opinions, recommendations, and conclusions are solely the expression of the author and provided on an as-is basis. Accordingly, Tailor Brands is not responsible for the information and/or its accuracy or completeness. It also does not indicate any affiliation between Tailor Brands and any other brands, services or logos.
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