Business name and licences: a name you can keep and a place you may trade

Picture it: you sign the lease on a corner unit, order a shop sign and register the company, and only then look into your business name and licences. A month later the council tells you the building may not be used as a café, or a firm two streets away objects to your name. Registering would not have prevented either. A company register checks whether a name is free in that register, not zoning, licences or trademarks. In the UK, Companies House blocks names that are the "same as" an existing company, while a name that is "too like" another can still be challenged after registration (source: GOV.UK, February 2025).

That is why your business name and licences come before registration. A name is expensive to change once it is on your invoices and signage, and a licence can decide whether, where and when you may open.

Choosing a business name: four layers to check

A business name is several rights, each with its own rules and register.

How to check a business name in four steps

1. 01

   Search the company and business-name registers

   Start where your business will be listed: Companies House, your US state's business search, ASIC, a Canadian provincial registry. The Dutch KVK Name Check searches the Business Register and the Benelux trademark register at once (source: KVK, September 2025); the French Data INPI database is free to search (source: Service-Public Entreprendre, September 2023). Judge every hit by sector and region.

2. 02

   Search the trademark databases

   The WIPO Global Brand Database is a free public service covering WIPO collections and participating national and regional offices (source: WIPO, October 2026). Add TMview for the EU, the USPTO search, the UK IPO, CIPO or IP Australia, depending on your markets. Search similar spellings and sounds as well as the exact name, in the classes for your goods or services.

3. 03

   Check the domain and social handles

   Check your national extension, .com and the platforms your customers use.

4. 04

   Test pronunciation and findability

   Say the name on the phone and ask someone to write it down. Search for it online to find businesses that appear in no register. Then put your favourites to the people you interviewed when you tested your idea.

Which licences and permits do you need?

Almost everywhere, licences come in three layers. The location: zoning or planning rules decide what an address may be used for, and a change of use can take months. The local authority: a business licence, or permits for signs, terraces and opening hours. The sector: food, alcohol, childcare, transport, finance, construction and health care usually need their own licence, sometimes with qualifications for the manager. In the US, restaurants, retail and construction are among the activities commonly regulated locally (source: SBA, October 2026).

Checked on the official portals in October 2026. Rules and fees change; confirm with your own country and municipality before you sign or open.

Check your country

• Zoning: ask the planning department, in writing, what the permitted use of the exact address is.
• Local permits: signage, terrace, opening hours, music.
• Sector licence: food, alcohol, childcare, transport, finance, health, construction.
• People: qualifications, background checks or minimum ages for the manager.
• Lead times: from application to decision, including consultations and inspections.
• Renewals: some licences expire, so track renewal dates (source: SBA, October 2026).

Example: Sofia's lunch café

Sofia wants to open a lunch café that also serves wine and beer. Her first name fails the register check: a coffee roaster in the same city trades under almost the same name. Her second choice, Linden Corner, is free in the register, has no trademark hits in her classes and the domain is available, so she registers it the same day.

A cheaper unit around the corner falls away: the planning rules there allow retail but not food and drink. The unit on the square already has a café use. Because Sofia will run the bar herself, she first needs the manager training her municipality requires.

The name took three weeks; the licences decide the opening date. The landlord wanted rent from week 1, at €2,600 a month. Sofia negotiated a rent start on the day the licences are granted, which keeps about four months of rent, €10,400, out of the period without revenue.

Fictitious Firmfocus example. Lead times differ by country and municipality; the logic works in any currency.

Small start vs larger start

Pitfalls

• Signing before you know the zoning: you then pay rent for premises where you may not trade.
• Treating registration as a licence check: a company register looks at the name and paperwork, not at permits or qualifications.
• Assuming a registered name is a trademark: in Australia, a registered business name stops identical or nearly identical names but does not protect you from action over someone else's trademark (source: ASIC, July 2025).
• The domain too late or in someone else's name: register it before your name becomes public, in the name of your business.

Once the name is settled and you know which licences apply, you can register your business. The overview of the eight steps to start a business shows where this fits, and Start a business brings all the topics together.