How to Register Your New Business with the Local Secretary of State
Post #13: A quick guide to registering your new Sole Proprietorship, Partnership, LLC, or Corporation with the SOS
In this Substack, I will walk you through the process of starting, operating, maintaining, and — if needed — selling or closing your own small business.
Today, I am going to cover the steps needed to register your business with the Secretary of State (SOS), assuming you’ve already decided on your structure.
👉 Subscribe to this Substack if you want to learn how to setup, operate, maintain, scale, etc… a small business. The Journey began with Post #1.
To review:
You decided on what service or product you want to offer, and realized why you chose this one, and you made a list of ideas for potential business names [Posts 1 & 2].
You searched for your business name ideas via web search, the Secretary of State business entity search, the US Patent and Trademark Office TESS (online search tool), DNS (for website domains), online map apps for brick and mortar business names, social media for existing handles, and WIPO’s Global Brand Database to ensure that your name has not already been claimed [Posts 3–10].
You conducted a variety of tests to make sure that your new business name would stand out to potential customers and not cause confusion [Post #11].
You chose the right business structure for your new business [Post #12].
Registering Your Business with the Local SOS
Registering your business with your local SOS ensures that your business is recognized by the state, protects your business name, and allows you to legally operate within your jurisdiction.
💡 Tip: If you missed previous steps for checking the availability of your desired business name, take a moment to review them (Posts 3–10 linked above, and here).
Verifying name availability is an important prerequisite to avoid potential legal and branding conflicts.
So let’s get to it!
Basic Instructions for Registering Your Business
Once you’ve chosen a business structure and confirmed your name is available, you’re ready to begin the registration process.
Here’s what to do:
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