State: California County: San Bernardino
Ownership type: Sole Proprietorship
I have searched for HOURS on the internet and there seems to be a lot of conflicting information online, so I’m starting this thread, hoping to get some definitive answers. I understand nothing is more definitive than an attorney, but I have also seen supposed attorneys online who offer different opinions. So I’m hoping for some real world experienced people.
I plan to apply for a business license under sole proprietorship. I will be online only and basically retail. I plan to have multiple websites for different niches. Someone will recommend LLC, but just to let you know, I’m not interested in that right now. Okay, so for example, one of my sites is hardwaretools.com, and another is comicbooks.com. Not really my sites. I would hate to go to a comic books supplier and give them a business license that says hardware tools, or vice versa. These people might not want to sell to me.
So I’m thinking of something generic like BMG PRODUCTS. This way I can basically go to any supplier. On my website hardwaretools.com, I would disclose that it’s a division of BMG Products. I would also disclose to my customers that they will be billed through BMG Products.
So my questions:
1.) Is there anything wrong with this plan?
2.) Do I need multiple DBAs to match every domain name?
3.) If I need multiple DBAs, then I’m forced to choose my favorite to be the one that’s named on my business license?
4.) Is it a real fear I have that suppliers of a different industry may not sell to me if my license reflects a business in a different industry? Or do they not care?
5.) Or am I completely waaaay off? Meaning, I need something that I haven’t thought about, which is multiple business licenses.
Please advise, your time is much appreciated.