Is a Business Name a company?

The answer is No. A company is entirely different from a business name in the sense that a business name when incorporated has the backing of law however the owners of the business and the business itself are not separate entities. But for a company it’s a little bit different because here there is something called corporate identity and of course the veil of incorporation. The long and short of what this means is that the company and its members are separate entities and bear separate identities. Thus, the members cannot be sued for wrongs done by the company except in exceptional circumstances.

To explain this better, a business name is the name and style with which you trade; remember that it is just a “style”, and it is therefore not different from you. Being a mere style, the business does not assume a separate legal entity; cannot sue, nor be sued and properties cannot be purchased in the name of the business. Also, this is the reason why when the owner dies, the business also dies (since in the first place, it does not have a life of its own).

While the moment a Company is registered, it becomes a separate entity different from you (otherwise known in law as an “Artificial person”). The best way to understand this severance process is to consider pregnancy, and delivery process- once a child is born, the child has an independent life; can grow, stand-alone (with time), and even die. The process of the growth of the child is not hinged as such on that of the mother. Thus, the company is considered to be different from its owners after registration; it means that they can be broke while the company is rich, and the death of the founder does not necessarily mean the death of the company because the company has a life of its own.

It is worthy of note at this point that some other striking differences include: that a business name cannot hold shares, debenture, stocks etc. but a company can. Also, the legal minimum for a business name is one while the legal minimum for a company is two.

Many more differences exist but these are the most striking of them. Hope you learnt something new. Need to register a business name or a company? Then choose 618bees because we know and make the difference.

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