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New York law lets a limited liability company operate for “any lawful business purpose or purposes,” so running a second, different business through your existing LLC is allowed.
If the new business needs its own name, your LLC can file a Certificate of Assumed Name with the Department of State. That filing doesn’t start a new company. It lets the LLC you already have do business under another name.
Being allowed to do this isn’t the hard part. The harder decision is whether the second business shares your existing LLC or becomes a company of its own.
Notice where the member shield sits: between you and the company, with nothing drawn between two businesses in one LLC.
This guide compares both routes, what each files and costs in New York as of October 2026, and the questions that should decide between them for your own two businesses.
New York LLC Law protects members, managers and other agents of an LLC from being personally liable for the company’s own debts and obligations, simply because of that role. There are two exceptions. A member can be held personally liable if the LLC’s articles say so and the member agreed to it. The ten largest members can also be liable for unpaid wages owed to the LLC’s employees.
That protection runs between you and the company, not between one business inside your LLC and another. To the statute, two businesses run through one LLC are still a single company.
Keep in mind, a judge may still hold you personally resonsible for certain actions or inactions of your LLC if you are found guilty of committing gross negligence, intentional misconduct, or other egregious harm.
Say you run a contracting business and add a retail line inside the same LLC. One set of books feeds the same legal entity, and the statute that gives you the member shield doesn’t address what a problem in the retail line means for the contracting business, or the reverse. That’s a different question from whether you personally answer for the company’s debts, and it’s worth raising with a lawyer before you decide whether your two businesses belong in one LLC or two.
Once you know what the shield does and doesn’t do, the choice comes down to two routes for running multiple businesses. The comparison below covers what each route requires, and the filing steps for each route follow after that.
| Existing LLC + assumed name | New LLC | |
|---|---|---|
| What you file | A Certificate of Assumed Name with the Department of State | Articles of Organization, followed by publication |
| Is it a separate company | No. Same LLC, new name only | Yes, a new and distinct legal entity |
| New EIN needed | Not for adding a name alone, under the IRS’s general rule | Possibly, if ownership or structure changes |
| What it costs and involves | Covered in the next section | Covered in the section after that |
The table settles what each route files. It doesn’t settle which one fits your second business, and that depends on questions only you can answer:
According to the IRS, a new EIN is generally needed when an entity’s ownership or structure changes, not simply for changing a business name or running more than one business. If you’re leaning toward keeping one LLC, the next section walks through what filing the assumed name involves.
New Yorkers tend to call this a DBA. New York calls it a Certificate of Assumed Name, and your LLC, not you personally, files it with the Department of State.
Filing it follows a short sequence:
None of this forms a new company. It’s the same LLC you already have, now doing business under a second name.
Look at the paper clip: the assumed name attaches to the Articles you already have instead of creating new ones.
| Step | Filed with | State fee, as of October 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Articles of Organization | Department of State | $200 |
| Certificate of Publication, after publishing notice of the LLC’s formation | Department of State | $50 |
| The newspaper publication itself | Two newspapers designated by the county clerk | Varies by county |
If what you’re weighing is whether your first LLC could own the second one, rather than forming it as its own company, that’s a different question. We cover it in our post on whether an LLC can own another LLC.
Publication and the Certificate of Publication are due within 120 days of forming the LLC. Miss that window, and the state suspends the LLC’s authority to do business until it’s filed.
Watch the Day 120 flag: the newspaper notice and the Certificate of Publication both have to land before it.
We cover the newspaper cost and the publication process in more depth in our guide to New York LLC publication requirements.
Either route is something you can start on your own. What’s less obvious is where a lawyer changes the outcome.
You can handle a few things yourself:
A few matters are worth a lawyer’s review:
We’ve helped a company set up one part of its operations as a separate legal entity. Doing so protected the financial interests of a co-owner from unreasonable debts and liabilities. Our New York LLC work covers that kind of separation when it’s what a business needs. A new LLC, not an assumed name, is what makes that kind of separation possible.
Here is how Andrea approaches a second business:
Starting a second business is an exciting step, and I enjoy helping business owners navigate that process with confidence. I work closely with my clients to understand their vision, talk through their options, and make sure their new venture is set up with the right legal structure from the start. Having already built one business, they bring valuable experience to the next, and my role is to provide the guidance, support, and practical legal insight they need to move forward, avoid common pitfalls, and position their new business for success.
If you’re staying in one LLC, we handle Certificate of Assumed Name filings alongside the rest of our New York LLC work, including updating the operating agreement to reflect the second business.
If you’re forming a second LLC, our flat fee for a New York LLC package is $2,495, plus $500 in the New York City area, plus credit card fees, as of October 2026. It includes the state filing fees and the publication ads needed in the first 120 days. The package includes:
Once you’ve signed the retainer agreement and paid, you’re legally in business within 24 to 48 hours for a new LLC filing. From there, we handle the state’s filing requirements for the full 120-day publication window, while you follow our instructions to get your EIN and sign the operating agreement we draft.
A flat fee applies to forming the entity itself, and to trademarks. The assumed-name filing, an operating agreement update, or other work on your existing LLC is billed separately and is worth raising at a consultation.
A 45-minute consultation is $350, plus a nominal credit card charge, as of October 1, 2026. Consultations are held entirely by phone or video, so you can work through the question without coming into an office. Andrea A. Willis is a Florida Bar and New York bar member in good standing.
If you’re ready to talk through which route fits your second business, book a New York consultation.
Do I need an assumed name certificate for LLC?
Yes, if your New York LLC will do business under any name other than the one on file with the Department of State.
That applies whether you’re adding a second business or just using a shorter version of your company’s name. The LLC itself files the certificate, not you individually, and it goes to the Department of State rather than a county clerk.
Is an assumed business name an LLC?
No. An assumed name is a name your existing LLC gets permission to use. It doesn’t create a company on its own.
A company comes into existence only when Articles of Organization are filed and accepted. An assumed name filed afterward attaches to that same LLC, not to a new one.
Can I put my businesses under an umbrella or holding company in New York?
Yes, umbrella companies to create a holding company is allowed in NY, but may or may not make sense depending on the goals of the business, and whether limiting/separating liability is important. With umbrella structure, liability can all roll up to the parent company, exposing all entities simultaneously. The liability shield can be pierced when there is shared ownership, dominion, control over the subsidiary.
Are series LLCs allowed in Florida?
Series LLC is allowed, where a parent will have separate liability from the series LLC below it.
How much does it cost to have an LLC in New York?
The state costs depend on which route you take: an assumed name filing, or a new LLC with its Articles of Organization and publication requirement, both covered above with their fees as of October 2026.
If you want our firm to form a new New York LLC for you, our flat fee is $2,495, plus $500 in the New York City area, plus credit card fees, as of October 2026. It covers the state filing fees and publication ads.
The information you obtain at this site is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. Contacting us does not create an attorney-client relationship. Please do not send any confidential information to us until an attorney-client relationship has been established.
