How to Change Your Indiana Business Name

How to Get a New Business Name

There are multiple steps you normally have to take to properly change your business’s name. We can cover the basic steps below. 

1). Choose a new business name

Choosing a new name for your business that you like can be the hardest part of this process. Fortunately, there are very few restrictions on the name you can choose. Generally, the new name you choose for your business has to:

• Be distinguishable from other business names on record with the Indiana Secretary of State
• Use proper phrases, words, or abbreviations that identify what kind of business you’re running (e.g., corporation, limited liability company, LLC)

Making sure the name you choose is distinguishable can be a labor-intensive process. To lighten the burden, you can use our Business Name Checker and Name Reservation Service. Our services check whether the business name you want is available. If it’s available, we’ll reserve the name for your exclusive use. 

2.) Gather information for filing your amendment

When you file your Articles of Amendment to change an LLC or corporation name, you have to include more information than just the new name that you want. In general, you need to include: 

• Your business’s current name
• An email address for your business
• Contact information for returning your amendment forms
• The date of incorporation or organization of the business
• The new business name you want
• The date your business adopted its new name
• Information about your business’s Registered Agent
• Information about how your corporation adopted the new name or a declaration that your LLC adopted the new name according to the law or its Operating Agreement
• A signature from an authorized party

Once you’re ready to file your Articles of Amendment with the Secretary of State, you normally need to pay a filing fee. 

3.) File your Indiana amendment

You can file your Articles of Amendment by hand-delivering or mailing your documents to the Secretary of State’s office. If you’re looking for a more convenient, high-tech filing option, you can also file your amendment using the state’s online portal for businesses. You normally pay your filing fee by check or money order.

Your Articles of Amendment might be just one of an overwhelming amount of business forms you have to file this year. You don’t have to feel overwhelmed by this obligation if you don’t want to. We can take care of filing Articles of Amendment for you with our Amendment Filing Service. 

After You Change Your Business Name

Remaining legally compliant with the state isn’t the only task you need to be concerned with when you change your business’s name. You also want to make sure you update your branding and other legal documents. When you change the name of your venture, you’ll likely need to update multiple business materials, including: 

• Contracts and other legal documents
• Bank accounts and insurance policies
• Websites
• Logos, signage, and other marketing materials

You don’t want to put these tasks off because the longer your materials bear the wrong name, the more confusion and damage they can cause for your business. 

We Can Help

Getting your business started can be tough and keeping your business legally compliant can be difficult. But these processes don’t have to be that hard when you use our services. Our Worry-Free Compliance Service stays on top of your important filing deadlines so that keeping your business legally compliant can be a breeze. 

If you want to start an LLC or a corporation and you don’t know how to do it, we can help you get started in a snap. You can use our Indiana LLC and Indiana Corporation Formation Services for help form your business quickly and easily. We can make getting your business up and running easy, so you have the time and energy to go further than you imagined as an entrepreneur.