Picking a Name - Just starting out

[shera_sjr]

Good Morning,

I am planning on opening a home daycare in September and want to make sure I do everything the right way.

I am planning on advertising on social media as well as in my small town's post office etc.

I was thinking of naming my home daycare Little Sprouts home daycare. but was wondering if I need to register this name? or if there are any other legalities involved. (I live in Ontario Canada) I am not a licensed daycare not sure if that matters.

I would love some advice/help on this please :)
Thanks

[babydom]

No you do not need to register the name. You can name your private daycare whatever you like. :)

[Lee-Bee]

I don't know how it works but I would suggest googling your city and your proposed name. I just did and found at least one daycare called "little sprouts" here in my city.

[Suzie_Homemaker]

Might be provincial difference, here, if we use our own name in business name, we don't have to register business but if we use something different we do. Since my surname not Sprout or Little, I would have to register my business to call my day home that. I can operate as Suzie's Daycare without registering.

[mickyc]

Not sure if there is differences between provinces (I am in Manitoba) but if you name your daycare something you need to register that name. I used to work in the legal field and if you don't register the name there are lots of issues. You cannot name your business similar to another business so that is why it must be registered. I have my daycare name registered. Another daycare named her daycare something similar and began advertising. Ummmmm. NO! That is my daycare name. So what happens when she gets a bad reputation or gets charged with abuse etc (not saying it will happen) but then people can get her business confused with mine and all of a sudden I can't fill spaces etc. needless to say I emailed her and she removed her ad quickly. I payed for that name. Nothing similar will be allowed from the companies office.

[bright sparks]

Might be provincial difference, here, if we use our own name in business name, we don't have to register business but if we use something different we do. Since my surname not Sprout or Little, I would have to register my business to call my day home that. I can operate as Suzie's Daycare without registering.

In Ontario you can register your business name free of charge if it is the same as your own legal name. Suzie's Daycare wouldn't work as it is not full name...also this is only relevant if you are HST registered. Home daycare's in Ontario are classed as sole proprietors and you can use any name you like without the necessity of registering the business name. If you want to register it, you can and get a BIN but again this is not a legal requirement. Only time there needs to be a business registered...at least small business anyway is HST. It isn't applicable for Home daycare providers otherwise. My Daycare is Bright Sparks Home Daycare....It is on all of my contracts and other documents including tax receipts. However, I am a sole proprietor so my taxes are filed under my full legal name, not my daycare name.

[bright sparks]

Not sure if there is differences between provinces (I am in Manitoba) but if you name your daycare something you need to register that name. I used to work in the legal field and if you don't register the name there are lots of issues. You cannot name your business similar to another business so that is why it must be registered. I have my daycare name registered. Another daycare named her daycare something similar and began advertising. Ummmmm. NO! That is my daycare name. So what happens when she gets a bad reputation or gets charged with abuse etc (not saying it will happen) but then people can get her business confused with mine and all of a sudden I can't fill spaces etc. needless to say I emailed her and she removed her ad quickly. I payed for that name. Nothing similar will be allowed from the companies office.

This makes complete sense and when I had my own business in the UK this is exactly as it was there!

[kindertime]

My daycare has a name. I don't have it registered, (maybe I should) but I was told when I was starting out that business registration was only necessary for payroll purposes. (I could use the daycare name or my name) I have never had an employee so I have never needed a business number.

(Not that this is relevant or that you asked, but when I picked a name, I chose one that wasn't strictly English. If I wanted to use only English words, I wouldn't be allowed because of the language laws. If I were to use Little Sprouts, for example, I could be fined by the language police. I would instead have to use Petites Pousses.)

Also, I discovered when I was setting up my website, Copyright applies to anything you create whether or not you register it. You register so there is proof and a paper trail, so to speak. But if you create something, it belongs to you. So if my neighbor decides she is going to use my daycare name, I can use my paperwork from 10 yrs ago with my daycare name on it and say that it is mine and claim the copyright. At least, that is my understanding.

[mickyc]

Maybe in other provinces it is different but in Manitoba a business name must be registered. If I was to use my first name's daycare though that is not considered a business name that needs registering.

If I called my daycare ABC daycare it would need to be registered. Even if someone was using that name for years I could come along and steal it in the event they didn't register it and I went ahead and registered it first. They would be forced to discontinue using it.

In Manitoba there is a difference in registering a business name and registering a business. It is 2 different things.

Likely each province is different. There are interprovincial business name registrations as well. I could potentially register my business name for use all over Canada so that it cannot be used by anyone (like companies like Walmart do). But it is big money for that and not something necessary for home daycare.

[Wonderwiper]

Like others have said, registering your name can save hassles later on. Even if it just to preserve your reputation if someone with a similar name is dodgy.

I am in Ontario. Registering your business name is not the same as getting a business license/number. It's about $75 bucks and literally only is registration of the business name. I don't even remember having to specify what the business is.

[mickyc]

Pretty sure I paid around $75 too. It's good for 3 years. Then a renewal comes in the mail. Sounds like Ontario is same as Manitoba.

[babydom]

I'm in Ontario. How do I go about to register my name? I never thought of someone else using it and not being a good daycare. I wouldn't want that so I want the 75$ route. Lol

[mickyc]

In Manitoba it's through the Companies Office. Check and see if Ontario has one too.