{"id":203273,"date":"2021-05-18T13:16:42","date_gmt":"2021-05-18T20:16:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nationalfunding.com\/blog\/?p=203273"},"modified":"2023-11-09T12:46:53","modified_gmt":"2023-11-09T20:46:53","slug":"what-does-doing-business-as-dba-mean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nationalfunding.com\/blog\/what-does-doing-business-as-dba-mean\/","title":{"rendered":"What Does &#8220;Doing Business As&#8221; (DBA) Mean?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When you came up with the idea for your business, you probably came up with the name for it around the same time. And the name on your business&#8217;s front door probably isn&#8217;t the same as the one on your driver&#8217;s license. It&#8217;s your DBA name \u2014 the name you&#8217;re doing business as.<\/p>\n<h2>What Does DBA Mean?<\/h2>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">What is a DBA? DBA means doing business as \u2014 so a DBA name is the name your business operates under. It&#8217;s also called your business&#8217;s trade name, as opposed to its true name, which is the legal name of your business.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Let&#8217;s say your name is John Smith, and you want to start a pizza shop as a <a href=\"\/blog\/when-to-incorporate-a-sole-proprietorship-business\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">sole proprietorship<\/a>. Legally, you&#8217;d register your business under the name John Smith. But that might not sound too appetizing to hungry customers.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Plus, you really wanted to call your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalfunding.com\/industries\/loans\/restaurant-business\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">new restaurant<\/a> Mile High Pizza. It&#8217;s a name that tells the public what you sell and that you can build a brand around. When you went to register your business, you&#8217;d choose Mile High Pizza as your DBA name.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">You&#8217;re not limited to one DBA name, either. Let&#8217;s say that Mile High Pizza is a big hit and you want to branch out and open a salad restaurant called The Salad Barn. You&#8217;d register under a separate DBA name, and each business would enjoy its own tax benefits, liability protection, and brand recognition.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"Buys lunch pizza and pasta in a paper bag with a takeaway. small business pizzeria coffee shop. a young male employee picks up dinner. convenient delivery in a corrugated cardboard box.\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.nationalfunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/buys-lunch-pizza-and-pas.jpg\" alt=\"Buys lunch pizza and pasta in a paper bag with a takeaway. small business pizzeria coffee shop. a young male employee picks up dinner. convenient delivery in a corrugated cardboard box.\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>Why Would You Use a DBA?<\/h2>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Running a business under a DBA name makes a few things easier.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Legal compliance.<\/strong> A DBA lets you create a separate business identity without the expense of forming an LLC or a corporation. Registering a DBA usually costs less than $100.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Business banking.<\/strong> With a DBA, you can get an employer identification number (EIN), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sba.gov\/business-guide\/launch-your-business\/choose-your-business-name\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the Small Business Administration<\/a> says. With an EIN, you can open a business bank account and keep your personal and business affairs separate.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Expansion possibilities<\/strong>. You can register new DBAs to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalfunding.com\/blog\/grow-your-business\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">grow your business<\/a> and expand into new areas.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><em>Need funds to grow or pivot your business? Check out <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalfunding.com\/solutions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">National Funding&#8217;s funding solutions<\/a> or fill out the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalfunding.com\/application\/apply-now\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">contact form<\/a> to contact a representative. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Setting up a doing business as (DBA) name is a good way to market your brand and keep your business and personal affairs separate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":203269,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2735,2732,2726,2729],"class_list":["post-203273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-financial-health","tag-dba","tag-doing-business-as","tag-financial-definition","tag-glossary"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What Does &quot;Doing Business As&quot; 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