one or two llc

[ketanco]

I am civil engineer and I work somewhere as full time consultant. But I also just started doing construction scheduling on the side, remotely from home, to various contractors, architecture firms etc… for example, they will email me the construction drawings, I will look at them, and make a construction schedule and email it back to them. (this is not considered engineering by the way, which would need license etc)
I am thinking about establishing company or not. Because I already have one LLC. That was for something totally irrelevant to my engineering career, (I am the sole owner), for my interest in hi tech stuff as a hobby, where I have some websites about hi tech items… and I mainly make money by displaying ads on my websites. I do everything from home. Again side activity for me. It either lost or made little money so far.

Question1) what is your recommendation: to do both businesses under current LLC, to found a separate LLC, to do a DBA under current LLC (if it can be done), or do nothing and continue my construction scheduling with my own name and lastname. Note: My current LLC, being in hitech subjects, has the word “robot” in it, and it will sound funny among construction people. That is one big reason I was hesitating using my existing LLC. Or should I just change name of exiting LLC that would be suitable to anything, such as (my last name) LLC?

Question 2) for my construction scheduling, if I don’t establish an LLC, and don’t use current LLC, but use my name and lastname, do I need to register with the city or state? I am in NJ. All I have is an insurance to my name and last name, to cover me for my errors just in case.

[BizAdvisor]

You can register multiple companies under the same corporate umbrella by simply registering additional DBAs under your LLC name. It is also OK if your businesses are unrelated to each other because you are not legally obligated to disclose the name of the LLC when you market your DBA. Just because they are under the same corporate umbrella doesn't mean they can't be marketed individually as two separate companies.

[ketanco]

Ok so i file a dba once and that is all the paperwork related to it and no more? So just once i do paperwork which is filing the dba on behalf of my llc and i am done right?

And when i have the dba, i will use that name when dealing with public, but, when i get payments i will use my llc name and bank account correct?

And which name will i use when signing a contract?

How about when getting insurance to cover my services?

[BizAdvisor]

In simple terms, when you add a DBA under your LLC, you're simply stating "my business also goes by this name". With that said, you can use either name. If you want to use both your DBA and your LLC to accept payments, you simply have to go to your bank with your DBA certificate and have the DBA added to your LLC business account.

As for insurance... When you file a DBA under an LLC, you basically have 2 companies that become 1 liability. If anything happens to either company, both can be held liable. As for insurance coverage: If your DBA is under your LLC, insurance companies generally treat them both as one business under the LLC name.