How important is this?

At the very least, go to the city clerk and file a dba for $30 or whatever so you can operate under a fictitious name.

Why would you even think about telling a prospect that you don't have a company yet?

Makes no difference; if you have a skill, business owners won't care whether they make the check out to XYZ Co. or John Smith.

I ran without a business for over 10 years and it wasn't a problem for anybody. If they wanted my expertise, payment method was a minor question.

DBA and business checking <$100

If you can't do this I think it speaks volumes about how "cheap" you are. So unless you are a price leader and offering services at low (too low?) prices you need to do this minimum.

In fact I have made DBA for businesses I never actually did anything with. The most expensive part of the DBA is the newspaper ad.

Yeah sure the rules vary by state. In IL we must be probusiness. The DBA costs like $5 but the ad costs like $60 or something lol.

Nameless I agree. There was a lot of sarcasm in that "probusiness" that wasn't really clear unless you live here and know it is very anti-business. IL sucks in general when it comes to business. In fact the cheap DBA fee and making the newspaper ad mandatory may be the only pro-business thing left and it really is only pro-newspaper companies.

That internet tax is complete BS but sadly IL is just leading the way on what will happen in the long run when it comes to that. Online sales have taken a lot of sales tax out of the states' hands.

It's why we are leaking business left and right to our neighbors.

I've thought about moving into IA for a while now but their income tax and car registrations suck. And don't even consider having a business in one state and living in the other. They will make you pay income tax to both. Friend of mine who installs carpets got hit with that because his tax service didn't understand the rules.

Also great suggestion on using your name as part of your business. Asking a client to make the check out to "Doud Consulting" vs Aaron Doud (using myself as an example) helps with the professional feel.

Yet I still think removing your name from the company is best. It allows you to wear many "hats" depending on the need. One day you may need to be the President. The next you might want to be a simple consultant. Personally in selling I like not being the final say. I feel it helps the customer be on your side.

I always could sell as a Manager but felt the title hurt me as the customer now knew I had the authority to say yes or no to a request so if they didn't like my answer they could now blame me. But as a Manager I could help close sales by being the "bad cop" and holding the line on price and such.

So by not using your name you can leave the room to call your boss. "Mr Customer I called my boss and he understood your concern. While we won't be able to _____ he did authorize me to ______." This is a great way to "split the split".

That ability to lower or raise yourself as needed I think is the value of a DBA for single man opperations. But it depends on what you are selling and how you sell. But even then the DBA has value. "I am Aaron Doud the founder and managing partner of GTeam Consulting (made up name)." It helps you look bigger and more important when needed.

But that is a personal opinion. As many consultants do use their name. In fact a lot of companies are named after their founders.

Listen to Anthem - that is the best advice you have received so far.

If you are unable to invest ~$100 to become an LLC, then you really shouldn't be thinking about working for yourself. The benefits:

- If you get sued, your personal assets are protected
- You are a "legit" business, with all of the inherent competitive advantages that brings
- It allows you to easily project yourself bigger than a one man operation, if you feel you need to do that
- You will have a legitimate business entity to run all relevant expenses through (i.e. tax write offs)

There really is no downside, besides a nominal upfront expense and an obligation to understand the how to stay in compliance with the few rules in place.

At least file the DBA. No reason not to.

I am getting a headache even thinking about accepting a check to my own name. (even though Jason's experience does in fact show how it doesn't technically matter).

No DBA...no business checking account... means depositing everything into a personal checking account which is an accounting PITA and big time no-no.

I think the key is trust.

Do they trust you, or not?

If they do trust you, then it doesn't matter whether you have a business name or not. It certainly hasn't affected me over the years, because my clients trust me.

If you want to build more trust, then consider:

1. Staying in regular contact
2. Offering advice upfront
3. Showing how long you've been in business
4. Showing social proof (results from other clients)
5. Providing references (from other professionals)

Anything you can do to prove you're legit and you're here to stay, really. Other than that, trust comes over a passage of time, too.