Registering my business name

[Vantage]

Hi everyone, new to this site. A little help needed please....
I have very recently started up my own small business but have been told there's no need to register with Companies House as I'm not a limited company, I'm a soletrader.
Firstly is this correct and secondly if this is true where should I be registering my company name instead?

Cheers

[carmenes]

You do not need to a register a company to start trading - you simply run your business as a soletrader and use a trading name. Whilst your business is small, it usually makes sense to remain as a soletrader, but there will be a point when it might make sense to setup a company for various reasons including tax planning, limited liability and the impression given to the market (perhaps a company looks more 'professional'). A quick Google will give you pros and cons of setting up a company.

If there is a particular name, word or graphic you use to distinguish your business from others you should consider a trade mark registration. For details see www.ipo.gov.uk (http://www.ipo.gov.uk)

Chris

[Vantage]

Very helpful. So as it stands I just have to hope another company won't come along with the same name and start trading as such...until I get bigger and register as a an ltd. Or I could register the name as a trademark.

Thanks Chris

[consultant]

If you also get evidence of trading e.eg website, invoices in/out, press exposure, that establishes a timeline of when your were trading from, making it more difficult for someone to muscle in.

On the flipside, what have you done to make sure you are not trading on someone elses name?