Congratulations, you’ve decided to take the next step towards your financial freedom by starting your own business and forming your LLC in Indiana. It’s a big step, but you can do it! But before you can open your doors, you need a great name.
Choosing a name for your business can be scary. After all, it’s the first impression your customers will have of you–so it has to be a good one. A great name is not only memorable but one that immediately connects with potential customers. It’s a big decision, so take your time.
But besides being a great name, it needs to set you apart from other businesses in Indiana. That means it has to be unique, and the only way to ensure no one else is using your business’s name in Indiana is by reserving your LLC name in advance.
Everyone deserves to know who they are giving their money to. To protect customers, as well as business owners, Indiana requires every business to have a unique name. Before spending too long coming up with a name you love, it is a good idea to learn the Indiana business naming guidelines.
Unfortunately, you can’t call your limited liability company anything you want. There are specific requirements and restrictions for LLCs in the State of Indiana that are set out in the IN Code § 23-0.5-3-1 (2023), and you must adhere to them. Luckily, there aren’t too many business naming guidelines, and most of them are obvious:
See, simple stuff. But to ensure your name is not already taken by another business in Indiana, you’ll need to conduct a business name search.
You can perform a business name search free of charge by using the INBiz portal on the Indiana Secretary of State website. The first time you see the page, it looks intimidating, but to check if your name is unique, you won’t need to worry about any of the advanced search options.
When you click on the link to Indiana’s INBiz portal, you’ll see this:
Select the “Exact Match” radio button and type the name you want to use into the Business Name search box. Then click on the box next to the “I’m not a robot” reCAPTCHA to click on the tiles from an image based on the prompt. Finally, you can scroll down and click on the orange “Search” button.
You will either see an Alert box that will tell you “No data found.” or a table with the name of the business you searched for, along with a lot of other information about the business. If you see the Alert box, congratulations, the name is available, but if the table pops up instead, you’re out of luck.
You may notice under the header “Name Type,” most of the businesses are listed as “LEGAL NAME,” but there is another type, “ASSUMED BUSINESS NAME.” This is the same as “Doing Business As.” If you plan to operate your business under a different name than the name of your registered business, such as a website, you will need to file a Certificate of Assumed Business Name or Doing-Business-As (DBA) form and pay the fee of $30 by mail or in person, or $20 online.
If you want to learn more about an individual business, you can click on the Business ID number in the first column. You will see a complete profile of the business.
So, the name you want to use for your business is available. Great, but there are a few more things you may want to consider, like reserving the name, trademarking the name, and registering a domain based on the name.
Just because the name you want is available today doesn’t guarantee that by the time you finish and submit your paperwork to create your LLC, the name will still be available. But there’s a way to protect the name until you have time to start your business.
You can reserve an available business name for 120 days on the Access Indiana website, but you’ll need to create an account. The initial 120-day reservation costs $10, and renewing the reservation for another 120 days is $10.
Trademarks and service-marks can be confusing. Trademarks protect a product, while service-marks do the same thing for a service. To apply for either mark, the name must currently be known and used in commerce.
You can apply for a mark either through the USPTO website or the Indiana Secretary of State. Using the USPTO website provides protection nationally while registering the mark with the Indiana website only protects the mark within Indiana.
Registering a mark nationally with the USPTO will cost $350 but only $10 if you choose to protect your mark only in Indiana.
Most customers find new businesses online, so it is a good idea to have a strong online presence. That means you will want to have a business website.
There are lots of domain registrars, but one of the most popular is GoDaddy. Type the domain name you want to use into the Domain Search tool at the top of the GoDaddy site. Preferably, it should be the same as your business name. Remember to add an extension–.com is the most common.
If the domain name is available, you can register it by paying the registration fee. If it isn’t available, try an alternative.
To further protect your brand, you may want to reserve your name on popular social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok, and Pinterest.
Naming your new business is just the first step. Now, you have to file the paperwork to make your LLC legal in Indiana. Tailor Brands can help. They are experts at getting new businesses off on the right foot, and since they offer no additional cost options, nothing is keeping you from getting professional assistance.
Your business must have a unique name in Indiana, and a business entity search is the easiest way to make sure no other businesses are using it.
Use the INBiz Business Name search tool to check that the name isn’t already in use in Indiana.
The fee is $10.
Yes, you need to submit a Certificate of Assumed Business Name or Doing-Business-As (DBA) form.
In Indiana, an LLC name must be unique; include the phrase “Limited Liability Company,” “LLC,” or “L.C.C.” and not contain language that implies it is a governmental agency or financial institution.
Unfortunately, you’re out of luck. Find a new name.
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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