Setting up an LLC is not as confusing or complicated as many may think. The steps to LLC formation are pretty straightforward and don’t really depend on the state you want to operate from.

In this guide, you will know the exact steps to be taken when opening an LLC and even some necessary ones you need to take, right after you have completed the process.

We have outlined in detail the 6 steps of pre-LLC formation, as well as 3 steps of post-legally opening an LLC.

As soon as you have narrowed down the state you want to operate from, it’s time to name your LLC.

Selecting a name for your LLC should not be difficult, as you are free to name it whatever you wish, following certain guidelines, of course.

You can start thinking of the name at any point, but before you can register it, it needs to have one.

You also need to make sure that the name is free for you to be used, meaning that no one else is using it, and it is not registered under another LLC, corporation, or any other business entity in the Secretary of State’s records.

You also need to be aware of trademarks, which can be either federal or state. As to federal trademarks, you can check the availability in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) of your state.

States trademarks are trickier to track, as there is no search engine for those from state to state. However, you can contact the office that oversees trademarks in your state to check the name availability.

In this respect, you are free to either obtain a state or a federal trademark. The difference here, besides state one being cheaper and easier to get, would also be the fact that state trademark benefits are restricted only to the state it is registered in.

If you are planning on expanding your operation to more states, then consider taking a bit longer and paying a bit more to obtain a federal trademark.

You can also take another route and add a DBA (doing business as) name to your LLC. This is simply an additional name to call your company and can be quite useful, especially if your company is offering multiple services or products.

Once you have settled on a name and your research shows that it’s free, you can “book” it, so to speak, for a fee so that when you are ready to legally file for an LLC, you know that no one else took the name. As soon as you secure it with the state, buy the domain as well, as online presence is key.

Many sole proprietors don’t know what a registered agent is and this step confuses them. A registered agent is basically either a third-party individual or a third-party company that receives legal and tax notices on behalf of your LLC.

Now you, as an owner, can be your own registered agent, however, there are many benefits of hiring someone else to do this job.

First of all, you get the privacy of vomiting your name on tax forms and keeping your physical address private.

Second of all, you can focus on operating and growing your business instead of worrying yourself with legal notices, court summons, tax forms, and other legal documents that the US government might need to send your way.