Why You Should Consider Registering A Corporation
A Corporation is not just for big businesses. In fact, a Corporation is a legal business structure that should be considered by anyone starting a business or currently running their own business.
In this post we’re going to talk briefly about what a corporation is, but more importantly, why you need to seriously consider this business structure.
What is a Corporation?
A Corporation is a legal business structure that enables the business to operate as a separate legal entity from its owners.
As a Corporation the business can operate as its own person, under the direction of its directors.
The Corporation is then responsible for its own debts and liabilities, with the exception of those that are personally guaranteed by owners.
As with any business structure each has its own pros and cons. More information about the various business structures can be found in our blog post on business structures.
Why should you consider a Corporation?
Now that we’ve covered a bit about what a Corporation is, let’s see why you need to take a serious look at this business structure for your business.
Building a business often means building a brand. Even if you don’t feel you’re building a major multi-national brand, your business name is how your customers know, find and refer to you. It’s your identity in the marketplace.
You business name is important, so make sure to protect it.
Imagine you’ve spent the last 3 years networking, marketing & promoting your business. You’ve put money into print materials, logo designs, etc. only to find out that someone else has started a business under the exact same name! What do you do? You registered the business, don’t you have the rights to this name? The answer actually depends on the type of registration you completed.
Many people register their business as a Sole Proprietorship, General Partnership, or Operating Name under the assumption that the name is theirs to use, and is protected, simply because they completed a business registration and hold a Master Business Licence. Unfortunately, this is not the case.
In fact, a Sole Proprietorship, General Partnership or Operating Name don’t actually provide any name protection.
If you want to protect your business name in Canada you need to register the business as a Corporation or register a Trademark.
Registering your business as a Corporation provides name protection in the jurisdiction of registration. For example, an Ontario Corporation has rights to their name in Ontario.
For a quick overview take a look at our infographic on business name protection in Canada.
Conclusion
If you are building a business and your business name is important to you, you really need to consider registering the business as a Corporation as a first step in protecting your business name.
