Business Name Registration

I am looking to set up a website - lets say a blog xyz.com.

All revenue will be from ads on this website and I will operate as a sole trader.

As I am not trading under my own name I will need to register a business name with CRO.

Will the business name I register need to be "xyz" or "xyz.com" or can I register a business name unrelated to the domain address?

Thanks.

mneylon

Your registered business name can be pretty much anything you want. It doesn't have to make any reference to your website and I think the CRO have had issues in the past with business names made up of domain names.

So if you have Xyz.com you could easily have "McWidget Face" as the business name.

kreillo

@whatnow! sorry to hijack Your thread, but I have pretty much the same question...

I am trying to form an LLC, and wanted accounts online company to form an LLC for me (I don't know if I want them anymore). They're telling me that for every single website I need to register a trading name (my websites will be typical amazon affiliate websites).

So if I have 15 amazon affiliate websites, I need 15 trading names, because my website has different name from my business name... they keep telling me that I'm trading with the website so I have to register the name, and I keep telling them that the website provides info only, and I am being paid by Amazon...

Can someone reflect on this? Do I really need to pay 99 EUR + VAT per every single website?
That sounds crazy too me...

mneylon

kreillo wrote: »

Can someone reflect on this? Do I really need to pay 99 EUR + VAT per every single website?
That sounds crazy too me...

LLC sounds very American - why would you do that in Ireland?

Anyway ..

An RBN costs about 20 euro to register.

You DO NOT need to register one for every website.

If you have a LTD company (or similar) you can easily publish on each site that they're all run by that company or if you're a sole trader that they're all run by you ..

kreillo

mneylon wrote: »

LLC sounds very American - why would you do that in Ireland?

Anyway ..

An RBN costs about 20 euro to register.

You DO NOT need to register one for every website.

If you have a LTD company (or similar) you can easily publish on each site that they're all run by that company or if you're a sole trader that they're all run by you ..

Thanks for the clarification.

I found a company online, had a chat with them and I guess they convinced me that LLC is what I need.

I know that I don’t need to register the name for every single website... that sounded crazy immediately when they told me.

So should I go with Ltd then? I have a contract that is for outsourcing SEO services to one company in Ireland, will offer SEO services on my own website and will have loads of affiliate websites.

Appeeciate the help ðŸ‘

Peregrinus

The business name that you need to register is the one that you actually use.

Suppose you have a website with the url "bikes.ie", on which you sell bicycles.

You could use "bikes.ie" not just as your url but as your brand. Or, you could have a different brand; the web page might present the business as, say, "Whatnow! Bikes". Similarly, the confirmation e-mail you send out when someone registers an account, or buys a bike, could be badged "bikes.ie" or "Whatnow! Bikes"

So ask yourself this question; if somebody buys a bike on your website, do they come away thinking "I bought a bike from bikes.ie" or "I bought a bike from Whatnow! Bikes"? And the answer to that question tells you which business name you need to register.

mneylon

kreillo wrote: »

So should I go with Ltd then? I have a contract that is for outsourcing SEO services to one company in Ireland, will offer SEO services on my own website and will have loads of affiliate websites.

Appeeciate the help ðŸ‘

Setting up a limited company is a double edged sword and it sounds like you need to talk to a proper accountant and / or a solicitor who can advise you.

If you're only just starting out then the full limited company might be overkill - there's a lot more administrative burden with an actual company.
However the other side is around liability.
If you are a "sole trader" then there's zero separation between you and the business. So if the business has debts then you personally have the debt. If the business makes a mistake and gets sued, then you personally are getting sued etc etc

And I'd keep well away from any online service trying to get somebody in Ireland to setup an LLC.

Talk to an accountant or solicitor and explain what you're doing and why and they should be able to advise.

HTH

Michele

Peregrinus

Peregrinus wrote: »

The business name that you need to register is the one that you actually use.

Suppose you have a website with the url "bikes.ie", on which you sell bicycles.

You could use "bikes.ie" not just as your url but as your brand. Or, you could have a different brand; the web page might present the business as, say, "Whatnow! Bikes". Similarly, the confirmation e-mail you send out when someone registers an account, or buys a bike, could be badged "bikes.ie" or "Whatnow! Bikes"

So ask yourself this question; if somebody buys a bike on your website, do they come away thinking "I bought a bike from bikes.ie" or "I bought a bike from Whatnow! Bikes"? And the answer to that question tells you which business name you need to register.

I contacted a person in CRO and this was their reply by email which they have basically copied and pasted from their website:


"

Please see below in relation to business names so if you are using the website for the business then the name must be registered.





Registration of a business name is obligatory if any individual or partnership (whether composed of individuals or bodies corporate or any combination of both) or any body corporate carries on business under a name other than their own true names. Its purpose is to make public the identities of those individual(s), partnerships or corporate bodies being the legal entity behind the business name.

Specifically registration of a business name is required if:

§ an individual uses a business name which differs in any way from his/her true surname. It makes no difference whether the individuals first name or initials are added. So registration is required if, for example, Mr. John Murphy traded as Murphy Builders but not if he traded as Murphy or John Murphy);

§ a firm uses a business name which differs in any way from the true names of all partners who are individuals and the corporate names of all partners which are bodies corporate;

§ a company uses a business name which differs in any way from its full corporate name;

§ a person having a place of business in the State carries on the business of publishing a newspaper.

"


This leads me to believe that if I had the website xyz.com (or bikes.ie as in your example) this is the name I have to register as my business name but I'll reply to the email and keep pushing until I get a clear answer that is not a copy and paste job from the website.

Peregrinus

If registration of a business name is obligatory, the question comes down to this: what is a "business name"?

The question is answered in Registration of Business Names Act 1963 s. 2(1):

“business name” means the name or style under which any business is carried on, and, in relation to a newspaper, includes the title of the newspaper

OK. You're not publishing a newspaper, so we can ignore the last bit.

So. A website address isn't necessarily a business name, any more than a physical address is, or a phone number, or any other way of finding or contacting a business. But if you use your website address as a brand, as an identifier, if people think of your business as "bikes.ie" then you've made that your business name, and you need to register it.

The fact that your website name is distinctive or easily guessed doesn't mean that it's a business name. Suppose you wanted to order groceries online for home delivery. You might be tempted to try "tesco.ie", no? And you'd be right. But, while Tesco, Tesco Ireland, Tesco Express, Tesco Extra and many other variants are registered as business names in Ireland, "tesco.ie" is not. Nobody thinks they are doing business with "tesco.ie"; they think they're doing business with the well-known supermarket chain, Tesco or Tesco Ireland, whose physical stores and whose website are prominently badged with one or other of those names.

The idea behind the obligation to register a business name is that members of the public who are dealing with a business can find out who is behind the business they are dealing with. Suppose you go to the Shelbourne Hotel, where you are poisoned by a dodgy oyster, or injured by a collapsing ceiling. You want to sue someone. You can't sue the building; you need to sue the people who are running a business in the building under the name "Shelbourne Hotel". Who are those people? For a mere EUR 3.50, the Register of Business Names will tell you.

So, if "bikes.ie" will take me to your website, do you need to register "bikes.ie" as your business name? It depends on what I will find when I see your website. If, when I get to your website, it's clearly the website of Whatnow! Bikes, then the name you need to register is "Whatnow! Bikes". Similarly, if your url is "whatnowbikes.ie" but the branding says "Whatnow! Bikes", then the business name you need to register is "Whatnow! Bikes".

As a pointer, "Ebay Ireland" abnd "Ebay" are both registered business names in Ireland. "Ebay.ie" and "Ebay.com" are not.

I didn't get a clear answer from the CRO. I have no choice now but to register 'bikes.ie' which I will be trading from as a sole trader at least at the start however I would prefer not to register 'bikes.ie' as my business name and register something else entirely such as 'XYZ123' but with all business conducted through 'bikes.ie'.

I wish it were to be more clear cut but there is apparently one person in CRO who deals with business name registeration queries and she has decided to copy and paste a bunch of text to me which I posted above and then ignore all follow up emails.

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we are not talking about the actual bikes.ie, we have no affilaition with bikes.ie. it is used as a example in place of the actual website address i will be conducting my business from.