Trading names, explained
As a sole trader you have a legal name (yours) and you can trade under whatever name you like on top of it. That is what “trading as” means, usually shortened to t/a:
Jane Smith t/a Kaitiaki Landscaping
There is no register for this. No form, no fee, no approval. You simply start using it on your invoices, your van and your website. Your bank and IRD will generally want your legal name recorded alongside the trading name.
Because nothing is registered, nothing is reserved. Two businesses can end up using the same trading name in good faith, and the one with the stronger claim is usually whoever can show earlier and wider use, or whoever registered the trade mark. The name is only as safe as the footprint you build under it.
The four checks to run before you commit
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Companies Register
Search the Companies Office register. You cannot use a name that is identical or almost identical to a registered company if it would mislead people about who they are dealing with.
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Trade marks
Search the IPONZ trade mark database. A registered trade mark beats an unregistered trading name, and finding out after you have wrapped the van is expensive.
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Web and social search
Search the name plainly. Is another New Zealand business already ranking for it? Is the Facebook page or Instagram handle taken? Does the name mean something unfortunate in another language?
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Domain availability
Check the .co.nz and .nz domains. If they are gone, that is a strong signal someone else is already trading under it. If they are free, register them the same day: this is the only one of the four checks that also secures the name.
How to pick one that works
Helps
- Easy to say out loud and spell after hearing it once
- Short enough to fit on a van door and an email signature
- Hints at what you do, or at where you do it
- Still fits if you add services later
- Has a matching domain and social handle available
Hurts
- Creative spellings people will mistype forever
- Hyphens and numbers that fall apart when spoken
- Boxing yourself in: “Auckland Deck Cleaning” if you move to Tauranga
- Names that read as another business's
- Anything you cannot get any version of the domain for
Say the name and the matching email address out loud as if you were giving it to a customer on a noisy site. If you have to spell it twice, it is the wrong name. This one test catches more bad names than any amount of brainstorming.
A word on using your own name
“Sarah Ngata Physiotherapy” is a perfectly good business name. It is trustworthy, unmistakably yours, and impossible for a competitor to copy convincingly. The trade-off is that it is harder to sell the business later, and harder to grow beyond you. For most sole traders neither of those is an immediate concern.
How to actually protect it
In descending order of strength and cost:
| Step | What it does | Rough cost |
|---|---|---|
| Register a trade mark with IPONZ | The strongest protection. Exclusive right to use the name for the goods or services you register it under. | Hundreds of dollars, plus renewal |
| Register the domain names | Nobody else can have that exact web address or the email addresses on it. Immediate and permanent while you renew. | A few dollars a month |
| Claim social handles | Stops handle-squatting and keeps your branding consistent. | Free |
| Use it consistently and keep records | Builds evidence of prior use, which matters if there is ever a dispute. | Free |
Most sole traders skip the trade mark and do the other three. That is a reasonable position, but do all three, not one. A Facebook page with no domain behind it is a name you are renting from someone else.
Check your shortlist now
Type a name in. You will see straight away whether it is worth continuing with, and what your email address would look like.
Still deciding between two or three? Check them all before you get attached to one. It is far easier to drop a name now than after the shirts are printed.