My So-Called Freelance Life - Michelle Goodman [15]
On the other hand, if you’re a Feldenkrais practitioner, e-commerce programmer, or concert promoter, you’ll want to think up a catchy name so customers know you mean business. (Bonus points for creativity.) Steer clear of “cutesy” spellings like Koder’s Korner, which scream strip mall. Ditto for adding a trademark symbol (TM) to your business name (and every other line on your website and marketing materials), which smacks of infomercial.
If you do go with a business name (what’s known as a DBA, “doing business as,” or fictitious business name), sites like MyCorporation .com and LegalZoom.com make registering it a snap, something you need to do for tax, banking, and legal purposes. Or you can do it the old-fashioned (and cheaper) way, through your county clerk’s office. Usually this involves filling out an innocuous form, paying a nominal fee, and sometimes, publishing a notice in your local newspaper. Note: If you plan to use your legal name as part of your business name (for example, Michelle Goodman Musings), you still may need to register a DBA, depending on the laws in your state. To learn more about registering your business name in your state, see business.gov/guides/business_law/dba.html .
Before you commit your chosen name to paper, ask ten people you trust for their honest opinion. Then Google it to make sure it’s not already being used by another enterprising freelancer in another state.
GET LEGIT. For new freelancers, “How much do I have to make before I need a business license?” seems to be the $64,000 question. The IRS defines “business” as any activity you embark on that makes a profit; otherwise, you’re considered a hobbyist. Cities and states like to follow the IRS’s lead (more tax dollars for them!). For that reason, the second you start earning any business income, they want you to register for a business license. Even if you’re doing business under your own name (as opposed to a company name), you have to get the license. Licensing requirements vary by city, state, and industry but usually aren’t too spendy; a quick visit to your city or state department of licensing website can give you the scoop. To learn more about business licensing in your state, see sba.gov/hotlist/license.html.
Like many freelancers, I put off getting a business license for a few years. The whole thing sounded so intimidating. Then I landed a cash cow client that required me to have a state business license. So I bit the bullet—and soon found myself wondering what I had been so afraid of. All that was involved was filling out a simple form through my state’s department of licensing website and paying $15. That was ten years ago, and I haven’t had to renew the license since. Figuring that my city would eventually catch wind of my state business license and come after me, I got myself a city business license too. While filling out the online form was a snap, the City of Seattle business license fee was a bit steeper—about $100 annually. (Again, the rates and rules will vary widely depending where you live and what you do for a living.)
If you plan to conduct business with clients in your home or plan to hire employees to work from your home office, make sure that you’re not violating any pesky residential zoning laws, or that you don’t need any additional business permits. Again, the rules will vary from business to business and location to location; check with your city, state, or county government for details. If you’re just planning to write marketing copy or design web pages in your living room all by your lonesome, chances are none of these rules and regs will affect you. (In all the years I’ve been working from home, they’ve never affected me.) It’s generally when your business starts generating a lot of foot traffic or creating a lot of noise that this could become a problem for you—since that’s when the neighbors might decide to file a complaint.
What does your business license get you? A nice certificate for your bulletin board (actually quite