Company name issue

Hey guys, I need some more of your invaluable wisdom for my young business. I started back in March so I’ve been Horizon Power Wash, LLC for about three months. While checking out Yelp today as a possible marketing venue, I came across somebody with nearly the same name as me. Only the other company goes by Horizon Pr…e Cl…, I am Horizon Power Wash, LLC. They are not registered with the State under that name or a DBA.

While putting together my LLC filing we searched high and low for anyone with a similar name anywhere close to my area and there was nothing. So we filed the LLC name. I see them on FB today with a post that is only a few days old. I found a picture of their vehicle with a sign that read Horizon R…f C…n. I looked that up on our State Corporations page and found that there was an Administrative Dissolution in 2014 for Horizon Roof Clean.

My question is " What would you all do if faced with situation like this"? I don’t really want to change my company name but if it’s got to be done then now would be the best time to do it before I grow anymore and have to advise more folks of a name change.

Thanks,
Andy

Tough decision! I, personally, would not want a name anywhere close to another business (in the same industry as mine) for obvious reasons. However, you are legally entitled to it since it’s already registered as an llc. It boils down to what YOU think is best. Now is the time to change if that’s what you want to do…

While not saying it’s what to do, I have changed my name so many times. It’s your number which matters the most right now.

Old boss was TMC Window Cleaning; guy literally 2 miles away was TC wc.

With your business only 3 months old now is the time to change your name. Depends on how much money you have sunk into vehicle wraps, business cards etc. If the other business is really not licensed you could send a cease and desist from a lawyer and see if they pay attention. If they decide to fight you is probably not worth your time or money. Also like the other comment says, what was the other company’s reputation? If it was bad then you don’t want to be associated. If it was stellar then you may want to be more aggressive in picking it up.

Richard
http://www.apexpressurewashing.com

Thanks again for the input. I think I’m going to let things marinate a little longer and see what I can find out about the other folks. Looks like I’m the middle of the road with everyone’s feedback. We’ll see what happens over the next couple of weeks.

Andy
Horizon Power Wash, LLC.