Went out and got my Fictitious Business Name statement today, which officially puts me in business as Robert D. Zazueta, dba TechKnowMe. Man, does that feel good.

Very simple and very cheap. I drove down to the Contra Costa County Recorder’s office, filled out a form and handed them $15. After that I walked next door – literally – to the Contra Costa News Register office, which apparently specializes in publishing legal announcements. The official requirement is that you post your FBN announcement in a “newspaper of record” for four consecutive weeks. I was wary working with the company right next door – they have the benefit of location, so they can afford to be a bit pricey – but it only cost $50 and it was officially official. It was harder to get married.

So what does an FBN really do for me? Frankly, not a whole heck of a lot. It makes it so that I’m legally allowed to operate under that name in my county, which means I can cash checks made out to TechKnowMe – a rather big deal considering my cards all say TechKnowMe. It also provides *some* light protection in a trademark case should anyone try to steal my company’s name. Other than that, though, the FBN really exists to protect the consumer. If someone gets scammed by a company, they can theoretically go to the county and get my information, which ought to lead them to me. Of course, if I were scamming people, I wouldn’t use an FBN.

The next step is to get my business licenses and such so that I can willingly through money at my local government a couple of times a year. Awesome.