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 Illinois 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. Illinois 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 Illinois Name Requirements
Illinois 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 Illinois. If it’s too similar to another name, your filings could get mixed up with the paperwork for the wrong entity. And worse, a super-similar business name could confuse your customers.
For example, “Illinois Lawn Care Bros, LLC” and “Illinois Lawn Care Bros, Corp” are too close. A mere difference in entity type does not create a big enough distinction in the name. Abbreviations of the same word are not enough, either, so “Illinois Lawn Care Brothers” would still be rejected as indistinguishable. Usually, to be considered distinguishable, the name must both sound and look different.
In addition, your name cannot imply that your business is affiliated with a government agency, or that your business is involved in any activities restricted by the state. You can find the whole list of naming requirements with the Illinois Business Corporation Act.
2) Create the Perfect Name for Your Illinois 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 Illinois’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 Illinois Secretary of State
Now it’s time to check that your business name is available in the state of Illinois. To do so, you’ll want to run a Corporation/LLC 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 Illinois. 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.
Technically, this search will pull up Certificates of Good Standing for entities which match the name you’ve searched. But, these certificates are a good indication of what entities exist in the state and as a result, what names are already in use. And by completing multiple searches, you’ll be able to make your name perfect.
First, run a search by typing in your entire business name. This will rule out any exact matches; if you need to change your name accordingly, this search will make that clear. Then, you can run a search by keyword. This second search will help you determine what similar businesses exist in the state, and, what their names are. By determining the names of the competition, you can ensure that your business truly 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 Illinois
You’ve done the legwork to make sure your business name is free to use in Illinois. Now, let’s ensure that none of that work goes to waste by reserving your business name with the state.
In Illinois, you can reserve a business name by filing a Application for Reservation of Name.You can file this form by mail or online with the Secretary of State. This form includes some information about your business, including a statement of your corporate purpose, the name and address of the applicant, a signature, and the name you wish to reserve.
Illinois requires a different fee depending on your entity type; LLCs must pay $300 and corporations pay $50. You can pay by check or credit card.
Reserving your name will protect your business name for 90 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 90-day reservation gives you plenty of time to get all your affairs in order and file your formation documents.
5) File Your Illinois Formation Documents
Even though filing a reservation gives you 90 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.
CyberDrive Illinois from the Illinois 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 Illinois Articles of Incorporation. You’ll also find easy access to forms such as annual reports, amendments, registered agent changes, and more.
Conclusion
Conducting a business name search is an important part of forming your business in Illinois. 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.