Michigan Business Entity Search: How, Why, Where?

Let’s start off by quickly explaining:

What is a business entity?

In short, it is any sort of entity that is formed according to the law to conduct business, charity, or other type of activity which is permitted in its framework. There are various types of business entities all over the world, from LLCs to corporations, etc, each with unique operations, corporations division, identification number, and regulatory affairs. There are many business entity options you can choose from.

“O…K…! So why would I search for a business entity?”

There’s plenty of reasons. You might be interested in a specific product and could search for an entity that sells it. Or you’re working with one or more entities and want to validate their business. You can do it by searching their entity online. Maybe you want to reach out to their corporations division and figure out how their regulatory affairs work. The ability to search for their business name in directories can help you get a tone of information on them, whether they are a limited liability company or a corporation, what their entity number or executive name is, the date the business was registered, and so on. You can even search for something simple like a phone number.

You can do this in every state, and the state of Michigan is one of them. Just like other states, you can do carry out a business entity search in Michigan and get information on any Michigan business that is registered on the directory.

Needles In A Haystack

There are more than 850,000 small businesses in Michigan, doing various types of business under various types of business entities. They all have their own unique identification number, and each has its own corporations division. Let’s imagine that for whatever reason, you decide to search for an entity in Michigan that you are interested in. Doesn’t matter what type of entity it is, whether it’s limited liability, limited partnership, or any of type of registered business. How can you do a MI business entity search and find the business you’re looking for among all these business in Michigan?

Well, most people would just go on Google and search for “business entity search Michigan” or “state of Michigan business search.” The results will probably lead them to a governmental website which usually belongs to the Secretary of State. Once you enter the website, all that’s left for you to do is search for the Michigan business you’re looking for. You can either search by the business name (entity name) or the entity number. All businesses have identification numbers. If you have an ID number for the business you’re looking to get more information on, you can search with that. Usually, a name will suffice but sometimes you need to dig a little deeper.

Can I figure out if a company is a corporation?

Absolutely! Whenever you search any business name or identification number in a search database, it will show you a ton of info, including the type of business entity it was established as. You can figure out if it was a corporation or LLC by looking at the information sheet.

I’m looking for a specific business!

What if you’re looking for a specific type of business, like a corporation?

The Google search results are pretty much the same! “Michigan Secretary of State corporation search,” “Michigan corporation search,” “corporate lookup Michigan” and “state of Michigan corporation search” are all examples of what people have searched in order to get more information on the corporations they are looking for in Michigan.

The same goes for LLCs. Just type “LLC search Michigan” or “Michigan LLC search” and you’ll be directed to the same Michigan Secretary of State business search database. That’s where you’ll do a simple Michigan LLC name search and that’s where you’ll find the information that you need.

I keep seeing LARA everywhere when I’m doing an entity search in Michigan. What is that?

LARA is short for Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs. It’s basically where Michigan businesses go to get licensed and acquire identification numbers. You can also do a Michigan Lara entity search to find out info about the businesses you are looking for.

Thanks to the Secretary of State Michigan business search, finding information on these companies and business entities has never been easier.

That being said, some businesses are still tricky to find, even through a Michigan Secretary of State business entity search. Keep in mind that a business name might be different from the name of the business entity. These are called DBAs. Your company might be established under the name X as a business entity, but you could operate under the name Y as your company name. This is why sometimes doing a business entity search isn’t as easy as it looks like because you’ll come across a lot of business entities that are like this.

If you want to do a Michigan company search or a simple entity search, these tips should help you in doing so. Michigan business entity search has never been easier!

Now, if you’re a business entity owner yourself and you want to get registered so others can find you through a Michigan business entity search, just click next and we’ll help you get started on the registration process so your entity name can pop up whenever somebody does a Michigan corporations search!