artist business licence nc sole practicioner

ARTIST BUSINESS LICENCE NC SOLE PRACTICIONER REGISTRATION
ARTIST BUSINESS LICENCE NC SOLE PRACTICIONER FREE

The truth is that most photographers don't need to go through the work of creating an LLC. The benefit of doing so is that it will protect your house, cars, and personal bank account from some lawsuits. We need to decide if you want to separate your business from your personal assets. This is where things can get complicated if you let them, but it really shouldn't.

ARTIST BUSINESS LICENCE NC SOLE PRACTICIONER REGISTRATION

Registration simply adds another layer of protection. Trademarks are earned through use–not registration. Just because they haven't REGISTERED their trademark doesn't mean they don't HAVE a trademark. If there are, it's really best to just avoid it. Do the same thing, searching for other businesses with the same name. If there are no matches in TESS, then we need to use Google. You may be able to still use the name if you are geographically separated, do a different type of business, etc, but it's best to just move on and choose something different.

If you find someone with the same name or a confusingly similar name, it's really best to just not use the name and avoid problems down the road. So I'll do a few searches with similar names to make sure. For example, what if there is a “Still Frames of the Mind VIDEOgraphy”? That could confuse customers about which business they are hiring. I also need to see if any other businesses are named something confusingly similar.

That's a good thing!īut that doesn't mean I can use the name. Just choose “basic word mark search” and then type in the proposed name of your business and hit “search.” When I do that, I see that the lame name I've chosen brings back no results. The first step is to check and perform a TESS trademark search. I need to make sure that someone else does not have trademark rights over that name. These are the steps I had to follow when I made “Improve Photography” after graduating from the simple “Jim Harmer Photography.” As an example, let's say I select something like “Still Frames of the Mind Photography.” If you choose anything other than your own name, you have to take a couple extra steps. The court ruled that you always have the right to your own name. There was a court case where someone with the last name McDonald opened a restaurant named McDonald's, but not THAT McDonald's. If there's already someone with a business named “Jim Harmer Photography”, they just have to deal with it because I always have the rights to my own name.

ARTIST BUSINESS LICENCE NC SOLE PRACTICIONER FREE

If you pick your own name, you're free and clear. It's really not hard as long as you carefully follow the steps.Įvery photography business has a name, even if it's as simple as “Jim Harmer Photography” (that's how I started out). That may all sound intimidating now, but as you'll see in the article, the truth is that 90% of photographers can run through this whole process in just 24 hours. Get some inexpensive photography contracts Contracts will do more to protect you legally than anything else!.Create an LLC or stay as a sole proprietorship.You'll need to walk through 7 steps to get legally set up as a photographer: Laws regarding small business differ in each state and country, so you'll need to seek the advice of a licensed attorney in your own jurisdiction before making business decisions. So I'm in a unique position to walk you through all the steps you'll need to go through to get your photography business set up legally.įirst and foremost, while I am an attorney, I'm not your attorney. Now I'm a licensed attorney, but run my photography business full-time. So hopefully this will help!įortunately, I successfully waded through the red tape of starting my business 6 years ago and the business has processes for the legal and tax requirements that were so complicated at first. This article is also the result of hundreds of hours of trying to figure out the business, legal, and financial side of photography on my own. This article includes over $20,000 of mistakes that I've made in the last 6 years of running my photography business.

Artist business licence nc sole practicioner