I was speaking with a friend and he suggested I register my business as a DBA. What is that and how do I register a business as a DBA?

DBA or “Doing Business As” provides business owners a way to have alternate names, fictitious names or trade names for their business. For legal documents you will still need to specify your legal business name, but you can also include the DBA name if the document is specific to the DBA.

For example, if I have a legal business of “Mack Jones Wholesale, LLC” and I start selling a particular line of products, I may want to register a DBA for “Special Brand by Mack”. I can then produce marketing and sell products under the DBA, but all the accounting and taxes roll up to my legal business.

The way you register your DBA does vary by state. Some states do not require registration at all, such as Alabama or Kansas. But many do have a registration process. In California, for example, you must complete a Fictitious Name Statement with the registrar in the county where the business resides.

There are advantages to having various trade names. You can market to different groups in different ways, you can test new ways to market or new market groups, and you can sell specific products through specific trade names. If one name fails, you can launch a different one with a new approach.

The disadvantages are keeping up with all the various names along with products and marketing strategies for each. Then you must make sure all the bookkeeping is kept clean and appropriately ties to the legal business. Also note that depending on the state, there could be a fee associated with registering each trade name.