The best thing to do would be to file the parent company first. You probably want to set this up as an LLC, or a Limited Liability Company so that your personal assets aren t tied to the company.Once you have your main LLC, you can literally set up as many DBAs as you want for the individual company branches. Keep in mind that everything will still be one company with this model. If you file an LLC for Tom s Baking Supplies and then a DBA for Tom s Crusts, another DBA for Tom s Fillings and one for Tom s Toppings, they are all still one company. And under that model, if Tom s Toppings started losing money, that money would come from Tom s Baking Supplies, LLC.But the nice thing about DBAs is that if you have good business models and cash flow, you can certainly brand individual services or products under individual company names. I have a client that I work with who does construction. He has one LLC, but separate DBAs for his framing business, his roofing business and his home remodeling business. This works great for him because he can focus marketing materials on each business segment with a company name, logo, website etc. that is specific to each of those different lines of work.There are several online resources for filing incorporations and DBAs. You will need to file the Incorporation first, before the DBAs. Depending on your state, that can take a few days or a few weeks. www.clickandinc.com and www.dba-filings.com can walk you through the process and charge very reasonable rates. They also have good customer service and live support during the day to answer any questions.You can also file DBAs without having a corporation behind them, but then they are tied to you as an individual and sole proprietor. Under this model, your personal financial assets WOULD be directly tied to your company, and all income would have to be taxed as self-employment income. This works great for people that have a consulting business and don t want to put their social security number on tax forms (a personal DBA allows you to use a Federal Tax ID Number). It s not as safe a bet for people that run businesses with employees.
I aggree with the gentleman above. Very detailed answer.
