When you meet someone new, what’s the first thing you want to know about them? Their name. Your name is unique—it’s how people remember you.
The same goes for your Colorado business: choosing your name is the most important step of forming your company. Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as just picking the name you like best from a list. That works for babies, but not businesses. Colorado has several requirements that you’ll need to follow as you pick a name.
Fortunately, this five-step guide will help you pick a name that is both perfect for your business and compliant with state laws. We’ll also cover how to reserve your name once you’ve picked it. Let’s get started.
NOTE: If you have found the perfect business name and would like to begin the process of registering your business with the state, there are a lot of good LLC services — like LegalZoom and Zen Business — that can do it for you.
1) Review Colorado Name Requirements
Colorado has two primary requirements for naming your business. First, your name must include a designation of the type of company you’re forming. For example, if you’re forming a Limited Liability Company, you’ll need to include “LLC,” “Limited Liability Company,” or an abbreviation of those terms. Corporations must include “Inc.,” “Incorporated,” “Corporation,” etc. Regardless of what kind of entity you make, your name should reflect your business type.
Second, your name must be distinguishable from other business entities in Colorado. (It does not, however, have to be distinct from a Trade Name). If your business name is too similar to another name, you’ll need to select a new name. If the state allowed indistinguishable names, your filings could get mixed up with the paperwork for the wrong entity. And worse, a super-similar business name could confuse your customers.
Your name may not include an identifier that does not apply to your business. For example, if you are a limited liability company, you cannot include “Inc.” in your name. You also cannot include anything in your name that would imply your business practices deviate from the state’s legal requirements for businesses.
For a full listing of naming requirements, you can consult the Colorado Revised Statutes.
2) Create the Perfect Name for Your Colorado Business
Now that we’ve covered all the things you can’t do with your business name, let’s focus on what you can do. Here’s where you can let your creativity shine. As long as you meet Colorado’s requirements, you can pick just about anything you like.
However, to make your business name perfect, here are a few things to keep in mind:
- Pick a name that represents your business: Your business name is the first impression you’ll send to potential customers; you want to make sure it’s the right impression. So, be sure to include important aspects of your business in your name. For example, if you’re starting a restaurant that specializes in vegan fare, you’ll want that to be clear by your business name.
- Write it down and say it aloud: Your business name appears everywhere—business cards, your website, company signage, and more. A good name will look good on paper. But you’ll also say your name a lot, too, so make sure it sounds as good as it looks.
- Choose a name that you’re proud of: Do you like the name you’ve come up with? You love your business, and you should love the name that goes with it. If you love the name, then you’re good to move on to step three.
3) Search Your Chosen Name with the Colorado Secretary of State
Now it’s time to check that your business name is available in the state of Colorado. To do so, you’ll want to run a Name Availability Search.
Here’s how it works: input the business name you developed in Step 2. If the state’s search tool doesn’t find any results, then good news! Your name is available for you to use in Colorado. However, if it does find a match, you’ll want to start over or tweak your name a little to make sure it’s different from what’s currently in use in the state.
Colorado also recommends that you run a Business Database Search. The name availability version checks for exact matches to the name you type. However, a business database search will pull up similar names based on keywords.
We recommend that you start with the Name Availability Search as this process is simplest. Then, once you determine that the name is available to begin with, you can move on to the business database search. Based on any similar names you find with this second search, you may decide to adapt your name to make sure your company stands out.
While this step may seem like a hassle, it can save you time in the long run. You’ll need to put your business name on your formation documents; if you put down a name that’s already in use, the state will send it back to you, request a change, and you’ll need to file all over again. This could potentially slow down your start-up process by several days or even weeks. Searching your name ahead of time prevents that slow-down.
4) Reserve Your Business Name with Colorado
You’ve done the legwork to make sure your business name is free to use in Colorado. Now, let’s ensure that none of that work goes to waste by reserving your business name with the state.
In Colorado, you can reserve a business name by filing a Name Reservation.You can file this form by online. This form includes some information about your business, including the name you want to request, your entity type, and more.
Colorado requires a fee of $25 for this name reservation. Since only online filings are available, you’ll need to use a credit or debit card to pay.
Reserving your name will protect your business name for 120 days. While it’s unlikely that another person will come up with the exact name you’ve chosen, this process prevents anyone else from using your name. The 120-day-long reservation gives you plenty of time to get all your affairs in order and file your formation documents.
5) File Your Colorado Formation Documents
Even though filing a reservation gives you 120 days of exclusive rights to the name you’ve created, you’ll need to file your formation documents to make everything official. The document you need to use varies depending on the type of business you’re forming, but it’s often called the Articles of Incorporation or the Articles of Organization.
The Business Organizations section of the Colorado Secretary State serves as a helpful starting point for forming your business. Here you’ll find the forms you need to start your business, including the Colorado Articles of Incorporation. You can find formation forms for different entity types here. You’ll also find easy access to forms such as trademarks, amendments, registered agent changes, and more.
Conclusion
Conducting a business name search is an important part of forming your business in Colorado. The search saves you time and helps you set up a name that makes your business stand out. We hope this guide made it simple to name your business.