Florida Company Name Change

Changing the name of your LLC is not difficult, but comes with a fee. One reason to change your LLC name is to respond to a cease and desist letter from a competitor. Your LLC name may accidentally conflict with a trademark from another business in your industry. Others decide their LLC name is not resonating with customers, vendors, partners, and others. Usually a company name can either be descriptive (communicating the goods or services being provided) or imaginative (think Xerox). People sometimes start with more imaginative names trying to build a brand, but if people cannot spell your website name or email then it may be time for a change.

There are two ways to adopt a new name for your LLC. The first way is by legally changing the name by filing an amendment with the Secretary of State’s office. The second is by creating a tradename by filing a “DBA”, or Doing Business As. Some very large businesses still use DBAs, such as “Doctor’s Associates” which is better known as Subway restaurant.

The advantages of changing your LLC’s name could be to have a brand refresh which could ultimately allow for market expansion and strategic repositioning. It may be that you have pivoted toward a new service or product. Giving your brand a “refresh” can better allow your business to align its product and service offerings with its target market. A name change can also signal that your business is going through major changes, like a merger or a shift in strategy.

The disadvantages of changing your LLC’s name can include loss of brand recognition and increased marketing costs. Since your brand and your business are so intertwined, it is important to inform your customers about any significant changes, like the name of the business for example. Losing brand recognition can be detrimental to your business. Your customer knows your business by the name, by the logo, by the slogan, etc. If any of that changes, it may confuse your customers causing them to take their patronage elsewhere. Your marketing budget will likely increase because of the need to increase communication through different channels to ensure that you do not lose your brand recognition with customers.

Changing your LLC’s name can promote brand identity and is not a requirement, but in some cases it can be beneficial. If your company is looking to rebrand, a good starting point could be to change the name. Changing the name can help your company better align its business strategy with its product and service offerings, and with its target market. You may also be forced to change your name if sued for trademark infringement.