Do you stream under your own name? I’d guess not. One of the first steps in setting up a sole proprietorship (the type of small business you are!) is filing for a Doing Business As (DBA), also called a trade name or fictitious business name. This is the form that you file with the state government, at least in the US, to show that you’re conducting business but not in your own name. Remember, just the act of conducting business creates the sole proprietorship business in the government’s eyes. Essentially, if your name was Kevin Bacon but you streamed and earned income under CaptainSparklePants it might be a good idea to register that name with the state. Until that point the government assumes your business name is the same as your name.
When do I need a DBA?
Check this list to see if your state requires you to file a DBA. If not, you don’t need to rush to get a DBA but it might help with a couple of important tasks. In general, it also helps add an air of authenticity to your business.
First, as said before you need one if you’re a sole proprietorship and you’re doing business under a name other than your legal name. In some states if you name were Kevin Bacon you could get away with “Kevin Bacon’s Bacon Shop” because it contains your full name. However, you might not be able to get away with “Kevin’s Bacon Shop” because it only has your first name. If the business name is entirely different from your name then you certainly will want the DBA.
Next, it’s pretty common for banks to ask for a DBA when trying to get a business bank account. They want to know that you’re legit and you’re not just someone trying to get an account under another name because your normal name is such a big risk.
Finally, it may be important for receiving payments for the business instead of just to yourself. You should consider opening a business PayPal account so you can obscure your name and run things a little more business-like. If you’re setting up a business account it can be confusing later to not have a DBA in case some sort of dispute arises.
How do I get a DBA?
Luckily, it’s not that bad of a process! Again, check that state by state list for specifics but I can run you through what I had to do for Buff Your Finances.
First, I had to fill out a form online. That took me… ten minutes maybe? It wasn’t bad. Then I had to drive in to the county registrar, wait in a short line, pay $28, and get them to approve my form. All in all that took me 2.5 hours and most of that was driving time. Finally, and I think this one is really stupid, California requires you to publish your DBA in a newspaper. Luckily, there are all sorts of publications who exist only for publishing DBAs, so I was able to pay one of them $25 to run my notice. The last thing I had to do was confirm that the county had received the notification from the paper that it had been published.
As you can see it only took minor time, expense, and hassle. The good news is that those expenses certainly count as business expenses which means you can write them off for tax purposes. Additionally, thousands of people do this in your state each year. That means that there are tons of Google-able resources for your specific state and county to walk you through any peculiarities of your hometown.
OMG I’VE BEEN DOING THINGS FOR YEARS WITHOUT THIS
It’s probably fine. This is the kind of thing that’s good to do and helps make your business much more legit. However, it’s also really, really common for people not to do this immediately for their first business either because they don’t know it’s a thing or they don’t remember to do it. Streamers are in an especially odd place because 99% of us started as hobbyists and then had it turn in to something so there wasn’t a clear point where you were starting a business. It just happened.
So relax, go through the minor hassle and expense to get this done, and leave a comment below if you have questions.
A final note- while this has been US focused there is a similar process in Canada. I haven’t looked at other regions but I would assume that in many countries there is a something like a DBA. Don’t think being outside of the US is an excuse, it’s on you to check!
