smallbusiness.co.uk: Helping your business think big

What you do depends on whether you are self-employed or forming a company. If you are self-employed and trading under your own name, you need to do absolutely nothing. So if you ran a business under your name all you would have to do is to make sure that it is on the letterhead, along with an address and telephone number (otherwise you would get no business!).

If you wanted to trade under a name other than your own, for example, Beach Hut Publications, there are more requirements over what goes on the letterhead. However, most importantly you don’t have to register the name anywhere if you don’t want to. There is no legal requirement to register it.

What you have to do is to include your own name and address legibly on all business letters, on written orders for goods and services, on invoices and written demands for payments of debts. Your own name and address should be displayed at your premises, as well as the name you trade under. And if you are talking to someone who asks you for your real name, not just your trading name, you should send it to them, in writing, immediately.

It can be worth registering your business name as a trade mark if you think it will become an important element in your sales and marketing effort. This would stop others using it. The Trade Marks Registry at the Patent Office (www.patent.gov.uk; 0845-9500505) can advise you.

If you are forming a business and it is a limited company, you will need to register with Companies House (www.companieshouse.gov.uk; 0870-3333636). You won’t be able to register a name if it is already used by another company - and there are some general exceptions to the words you can use.