Finding out a buisness owner

[Aszental]

Hey.

Well i want to start a part time photography business, i registered the domain name for what i wanted, but when i went to register for an ABN i saw that someone has already taken the name.

All i got from the ABN website was a name and a postcode for the owner, i couldnt find anything in google or the whitepages.

Anyone know how i could get in contact witht them to see if they are actually using the name? it's not registerd for GST so i dont think they are actually using it for a buisness...

thanks guys.

[Glen]

A few more clues? Is it pty ltd, business name, partnership, etc? Rather than type out all the ways to find each different one, let us know what style of business it is and I can list a few ways to contact the owner. If someone is already registered for GST or an ABN with a name, you may find they are reluctant to let it go as there is a lot of hassle changing to a different entity with GST. It also affects their credit rating.

[biggerry]

if you have their domain name they should have contact details in domain listing, for this the 'whois' command is what you need, if your running a form of linux this is a standard builtin...

however you can just visit one of the many sites that can do the same thing...

for example

http://whois.domaintools.com/

this should work .au domains as well...

if it is .au domain then all the info you need to conatct them should be readily available...

hth

edit: PS ignore all that.... I thought you had THEIR website domain...

[mickey]

So I take it you got the name from ABNLookup website? If you want more details you will have to go to the Govt department that registers business names. In WA it's DoCEP but not sure about Victoria. Business name search probably cost you $20 or so.

Whether or not they use the name for trading if they have registered it you can't do much except buy the name off them perhaps.

[Aszental]

Hey its a Sole trader... not Pty Ltd or anything.

I was speaking to someone he said i could use the same name, just add pty ltd at the end, is that correct?

ye i got it from the ABN online thing.

Thanks guys

[Glen]

No. I would look up business names at Consumer Affairs Victoria, phone 1300 55 81 81 or their website, but I found their website particularly unhelpful when registering a business name 2 weeks ago in Vic. I would check http://www.asic.gov.au to see if it is a registered business name, if it is then trace the contact details through CAV, if it isn't rush to register it (can be done online) through CAV

[gstark]

I was speaking to someone he said i could use the same name, just add pty ltd at the end, is that correct?

Er, no.

Do you have an accountant or lawyer yet? If not, might I suggest getting one?

[phillipb]

If you just want to get an ABN, I don't think that there is a restriction on unique names I just helped my daughter get hers and there was a dozen people with the business name of "Jennifer"

[Shoot]

Hey its a Sole trader... not Pty Ltd or anything.

I was speaking to someone he said i could use the same name, just add pty ltd at the end, is that correct?

ye i got it from the ABN online thing.

Thanks guys

No. You can't. The only thing you need to start your own business as a sole trader is to have an ABN. You have that. That ABN is Attached to your name... You then can if you wish ( for professionalism ) then register a business name to that ABN. Thats called a 'Trading as' name.

In my case... Its Robert White Trading as Inline Electrical. I can have as many 'Trading as' names as I want ( they need to be registered though ) and all these Trading as names would be under the same ABN.

i could get in contact witht them to see if they are actually using the name? it's not registerd for GST so i dont think they are actually using it for a buisness...

Just because they are not registered for GST that doesn't mean that they aren't actively trading or using the name. You only have to register for GST when turnover 50,000 or more.

All the above is different to a Pty Ltd because in that situation the ABN and the Business name are there own entity. As a sole trader YOU are the business.
As Gary said if you don't know how to set all this up you should talk to an Accountant about it to help you.

As a business starting out IMO you'd be crazy to go Pty Ltd unless you already have a serious client base in the bag. Its costly, very costly to run a Pty Ltd Company. You need to be turning over more than 250,000 pa to make it worth while to take advantage of the flat tax threshold of %30. In addition to that there's tax on luxury cars, payroll tax, company tax and lots of other nice surprises.

You've got your ABN, you're good to go right now, all you need is a business account with that ABN linked to it. and you can trade under your real name for now, that is your legal name. And no, you cant just make up one and put what you want at the end.

I know you probably didn't want to know all this but likely in the near future you will.. If someone had told me this when i started it would have helped me out a great deal.
Hope it helps.

[Shoot]

If you just want to get an ABN, I don't think that there is a restriction on unique names I just helped my daughter get hers and there was a dozen people with the business name of "Jennifer"

I doubt thats a business name, they are legal names with ABN's attached. No two business names can be the same in any one Australian state, but of course.... Legal names can.

[Aszental]

Ok thanks guys the next question, which i think might be useful more than just me.

what questions do you have to ask yourself when starting up a small photography business, what did you find out from your business that you wish someone told you when they were starting up?

[who]

Now this is one question I feel VERY qualified to answer.... its something I do daily, and a lot better than my photography

Hey its a Sole trader... not Pty Ltd or anything.

I was speaking to someone he said i could use the same name, just add pty ltd at the end, is that correct?

ye i got it from the ABN online thing.

Thanks guys

[/quote]

How do you know its a sole trader? I'm assuming they have just a business name -- is it in your state?

If not, you should be able to regsiter it in your state, but you do have to beware as there are still legal rights allowing the other party to claim against you - although you should just receive a cease & desist legal letter first (recently had/advised a client to do this, someone was treading on their turf even though they had no legal business name/registered trademark/other registered IP.

A business name can be registered to any entity. Example, you could have Marterra One Pty Ltd T/as DSLRUsers...... (DSLRUsers being a business name say registered in Taswegia, owner being the company Marterra One Pty Ltd)....

But that business name only has most force in Tassie.... it would be hard, if not impossible to argue against Gary Stark later registering DSLRUsers as a business name in NSW......

But if I had DSLRUsers Pty Ltd, that gains national effect..... and if the company already exists, the State Business Names authority will (or should) ask for proof that you have authority to use DSLRUsers......

And that is without looking at registered trademarks, logos, etc with IP Australia.

Confused yet?

No. You can't. The only thing you need to start your own business as a sole trader is to have an ABN. You have that. That ABN is Attached to your name... You then can if you wish ( for professionalism ) then register a business name to that ABN. Thats called a 'Trading as' name.

In my case... Its Robert White Trading as Inline Electrical. I can have as many 'Trading as' names as I want ( they need to be registered though ) and all these Trading as names would be under the same ABN.

Yep, that's right..... although a trading name is linked to the legal entity behind it (person or company) not the ABN technically.

i could get in contact witht them to see if they are actually using the name? it's not registerd for GST so i dont think they are actually using it for a buisness...

Just because they are not registered for GST that doesn't mean that they aren't actively trading or using the name. You only have to register for GST when turnover 50,000 or more.

All the above is different to a Pty Ltd because in that situation the ABN and the Business name are there own entity. As a sole trader YOU are the business.

Yep, but turnover threshold now $75K for a for-profit entity.....

As Gary said if you don't know how to set all this up you should talk to an Accountant about it to help you.

Yep, I need more more money for more glass

As a business starting out IMO you'd be crazy to go Pty Ltd unless you already have a serious client base in the bag. Its costly, very costly to run a Pty Ltd Company. You need to be turning over more than 250,000 pa to make it worth while to take advantage of the flat tax threshold of %30. In addition to that there's tax on luxury cars, payroll tax, company tax and lots of other nice surprises.

You've got your ABN, you're good to go right now, all you need is a business account with that ABN linked to it. and you can trade under your real name for now, that is your legal name. And no, you cant just make up one and put what you want at the end.

I know you probably didn't want to know all this but likely in the near future you will.. If someone had told me this when i started it would have helped me out a great deal.
Hope it helps.

Hmmm - Pty Ltd isn't always very costly.... just choose the right accountant (not the cheapest BTW - that's like buying no-name ''lenses'' off ebay, it may give you an image, but is it correct )

There is a LOT more to Pty Ltd choice, including asset protection (protecting private assets from creditors) and other structuring issues......

And that is a few thousand words in itself, that have to be tailored to each individual situation.......

[who]

 PS.

If you want to PM me with specifics - ie business name you want(ed), your state, details of states you will be doing business in.... I'll have a bit more of a look for you......

[_robbo_]

Interesting info here. I've just registered a business name for my photography stuff but have not registered for GST as i dont think i'll be making over 75k this year...
I'm not too sure what i need to do to get an ABN but i am meeting with an accountant in a few hours so hopefully i'll get all of these things ironed out.

Aszental, if you want to find out more information about registering the business name, i found going to Consumer Affairs Vic was great. btw, is your domain name a .com.au? as far as i was aware, you can't get one unless you have an ABN or business name. Looking into both business names and domain names is definately a must BEFORE registering either IMO...