timbradley

Hi all!

My first post here, but looking forward to many useful discussions.

I am in the preparatory stages of starting a photography business and needed some advice on business naming in NSW.

I understand that (a) if you trade solely online, you don't need to register a name, and (b) if you trade under your own name, you don't need to register...

My question is this:

If I branded a website as "Tim Bradley Photography", but invoiced as, and provided any printed promotional items as "Tim Bradley" only (with a photography related subheading that does not form part of the name), would I need to register a business name??

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

David Dunford

Hi Tim,

Great question.

From how i read and understand your question you are right in saying that you don't need to register a business when just trading under your own name.

BUT, what i think you need to think about is the branding of your business. How you are perceived in the marketplace will severely effect your business stability and growth.

Take the GST registration issue for example. Any business with a turnover of $75k or more must register for GST and those that fall under the threshold have the option.

When an individual or business is considering someones services, if they are not registered for GST then they are often considered a 'part time' or 'back yard' player in the industry. In other words, an amatuer. I know this may not be the case but it's all part of the perception game in the marketplace.
To further this, if you are quoting a job for a GST registered business then the GST component on your invoice will be claimed by the purchasing business anyway.

To get back to your question of registering a business name, I am a big fan of branding yourself. Even to go as far as ip trademarking is what you should be thinking about because it's all part of marketing your business. Doesn't matter how good your product or service is, if you don't have any exposure then how will you ever grow.

So in a round about way I believe you need to look at the big picture and where you want this business to be in 1, 2, 5, 10 years time and setting some goals will help you determine what steps need to be taken to achieve this. (ie; if you wanted to brand yourself and tardemark some images then you would need a business name etc.)

Hope it all makes sense. If you do need some help then I'd be happy to give you a copy of my 7 day online business marketing course (homepage link of my contact page). It's not really directed at your industry but none the less would certainly help you with some online marketing advice.

Hope this helps you Tim.

David.

timbradley

David,

Thanks so much for your comprehensive response.

I think the key point in your answer is exactly the conclusion I came to - for the sake of the relatively negligible price of registering the name, the pro's of registering it most definitely outweigh the cons!

Thanks again

Regards