Did you know that there are over 500,000 active small businesses in Missouri? This means that if you want to be an entrepreneur, you’ve got some fierce competition.
Not only that, but it can be challenging to find a unique business name. And if you think you’re quite clever, then think again. There’s a good chance that someone’s already thought of the same business name, so you might run into roadblocks.
To avoid this, you should perform a Missouri business entity search before committing to a name. In this article, we’ll outline the proper steps you need to take to ensure you have a truly unique company name.
Check the Missouri Secretary of State Database
The Missouri Secretary of State’s website has a business entity search, which makes things very convenient. This database lets you search:
- Limited liability companies (LLCs)
- Corporations
- Limited partnerships
- Limited liability partnerships
- Limited companies
- Non-profits
Are you trying to look for sole proprietorships or partnerships? They’ll only turn up if they’ve registered a fictitious name, or a “doing business as” (DBA).
On this page, you can search for the business name, registered agent, name availability, and charter number. The best way to conduct your search is to type in the name you wish to have and use either “business name” or “name availability.”
There’s also the box for “Includes names”; you can opt for:
- Starting with
- All words
- Any word
- Exact match
You can play around with the settings to see what results turn up.
If anything interests you, you can click on the entries to bring up further details. For example, in addition to the business name, you can find out the type, address, status, duration, and entity formation documents.
Should you find an available name you’re interested in but aren’t ready to start your business just yet, the good news is that you can reserve it. Just pay the Secretary of State $25 and you can hold the name for up to 60 days.
Use a Search Engine
The Missouri Secretary of State business entity search page is super handy. But if you want to be extra-sure that your desired business name is available, you can do your own “investigation” through a search engine like Google.
To do this MO business entity search, simply type the business name into the search bar, along with the location (i.e. Missouri, MO, or any particular cities you’re interested in). The results pages should give you a solid idea of if there are any companies that have identical or similar names.
Check With Business Anywhere
Since you want to start a business, why not kill two birds with one stone? We at Business Anywhere have an easy-to-use name availability checker that searches LLCs, PLLCs, and corporations.
If the name’s free for the taking, you can then directly reach out for our business registration service. Just give us your first and last name, email, and phone number, and we can set you up in next to no time.
Do a Thorough Missouri Business Entity Search
We know it’s exciting to begin a new career path, but ensure you follow the proper steps before rushing in. One of the first things you should do is perform a Missouri business entity search, as this will tell you if your genius name idea has already been thought of before.
Once you’re confident that your Missouri business search has confirmed the name availability, you can then either reserve the name or get started on registering your business.
Sign up with Business Anywhere to start your exciting new company. We’ll assist with virtual mailbox and registered agent services too.
