Doing Business As is a business entity, and also is sometimes called a sole proprietorship, or even a fictitious name. When you have a Doing Business As entity, this means that this business is not separate from you. You the owner are personally responsible for all debt, law suits, and income that comes from this entity. When there is more than one person involved in the DBA entity, that person is also legally liable, and the entity is then known as a partnership.
Regular Corporation is also a type of entity that you may be considering. When you have a corporation, the owners are not personally responsible for any of the company's debt. The regular corporation can purchase real estate, sign contracts, and can handle its own legal matters apart from the owners.
S Corporation is a entity that a corporation can form after becoming incorporated. With this status, the taxes are then changes so that it is taxed as if it were a sole proprietorship or partnership instead of a corporation.
LLC also known as Limited Liability Company is an entity that is generally the easiest and cheapest to obtain. It also provides protection for the owners, in the even that the LLC obtained debt, or were to be sued.
While becoming incorporated can be quite confusing to someone that has never owned a company before, it is all quite simple. If you are considering becoming incorporated, just be sure that you know how many people will be in it with you, what name you would like to operate under, and then you can choose which entity is best for you and your business.
