Do I need a DBA or LLC?

Get a hold of local SCORE office, they are retired business leaders, that help new and growing small businesses. Also get a lawyer.

DBA is just an alias for company name but it is still you.

LLC is a legal entity.

@Tropical_Willie Can an LLC business be under a name other than my own?

@ItalianPrincess1217: I did a little googling:

https://www.legalzoom.com/sem/biz/llc-forming.html

https://www.tax.ny.gov/pit/efile/llc_llp.htm#:~:text=An%20LLC%20that%20is%20treated%20as%20a%20sole,required%20to%20file%20a%20Form%20IT-204,%20Partnership%20Return.

You can call your LLC by any name.

North East NY offices They are no cost.! Look up your local offices on the web.

LLC or corporation is usually the choice. You should read up on that or ask a lawyer or accountant. You can do it yourself most likely, but hard to navigate in my opinion the first time dealing with it. LLC usually is less expensive than a corporation, but not necessarily.

DBA is what your businesses is known as. For example you might have a corporation filed with your state as Princess, Inc. or an LLC called Princess, LLC. One or the other. However, on your store front the sign might say IP Photography, and that’s what your customers call your business. You Do Business As (DBA) IP Photography.

The reason this is good is because if you ever sell the business it’s common to close the corporation or LLC and only sell the DBA and what is related to the DBA, like the website, client list, equipment, and so on. Or, you might keep the LLC intact, but still sell the company with the DBA if you have several businesses under the one LLC.

I forgot to add SCORE is really good. I recommend them also.

A DBA is a simple declaration that you intend to do a certain kind of business with a fictitious name, like “Puppy Palace”.
An LLC sets up Puppy Palace as an entity whose liabilities are limited to its assets.

If Puppy Palace gets sued for a bazzillion bucks because of ice on the sidewalk, Puppy Palace might go out of business but they won’t take your house.
If you don’t have the LLC and you lose that lawsuit, they might take your house and car and 401K and…

DBA is “doing business as.” A DBA is the name used to operate trade or business activities, as held out to the public, rather than the entity’s legal name. For example, if you create a company named “The Italian Princess Ltd.,” but you open your store as “It-Prin,” you operate with a DBA name. A DBA is effective for branding and distinguishing business lines; one entity might have several activities with different DBAs.

An LLC is a form of legal entity, created under state law. LLCs are extremely easy and inexpensive to form; in general, formation is done by filing a one-page form and paying a modest fee. But, this simplicity of creation doesn’t make an LLC a do-it-yourself project. The wording of your question tells me that you lack knowledge of LLCs and their legal and tax consequences. Please don’t form an entity and then try to comply in hindsight; get competent, professional help from a CPA or attorney before proceeding.

@ItalianPrincess1217 Have you contacted the local SCORE office ?

I worked with a high level exec in a Fortune 100 company, when he retired almost 30 years ago he worked with people at the local SCORE office. Rewarding for him and helpful for small businesses !

@Tropical_Willie Yes I just sent a request and they should be contacting me soon! Thanks for the suggestion. The deeper I get into this, I more I realize I know very little about the startup of a physical store location.