Startup, MSME & Registrations
Getting the entity, the registrations and the protections in place — from incorporation through DPIIT recognition, Udyam, trademarks and the licences a business needs before it can trade.
Setting up the entity
Company registration
Private limited incorporation, including name approval, digital signatures, director identification, drafting the constitutional documents and the post-incorporation filings that are easy to forget and expensive to miss.
LLP registration
Limited liability partnership formation and the partnership agreement that governs how partners share profits, take decisions and exit — the document that matters most when a disagreement arrives years later.
DPIIT startup recognition
Recognition under the Startup India programme, which is the prerequisite for the startup tax exemption, self-certification under certain labour and environment laws, and concessions on intellectual property filings.
Udyam (MSME) registration
The registration that formally records a business as a micro, small or medium enterprise. Most government subsidy schemes, priority sector lending and the delayed payment protections are keyed to it, so it is usually the first thing to put in place before chasing scheme benefits.
Protecting and licensing the business
Trademark registration and objections
Search before filing, classification, and the application itself — then replies to examination objections, opposition proceedings, hearings, rectification and renewals. Objections are a normal stage rather than a refusal; missed reply deadlines are what actually kill applications.
Import Export Code
The IEC needed before a business can import or export, along with the related registrations that sit alongside it for anyone trading across borders.
Licences and trade registrations
FSSAI for food businesses, trade licence, professional tax registration, PAN and TAN, and digital signatures. Selling to government buyers is covered separately on our GeM portal page.
NGO registrations
12A and 80G registration so a trust or society is exempt on its own income and can offer donors a deduction, plus Darpan registration for engaging with government departments.
After incorporation
A company or LLP has filing obligations from the day it exists, whether or not it trades. Annual returns, director KYC and the forms that follow each board decision are covered on our MCA and ROC compliance page.
Common questions
Private limited company or LLP?
If you expect to raise external investment, a private limited company is usually the answer, because investors subscribe to shares and an LLP has no share capital to subscribe to. If you are a small group running a professional or trading business with no funding plans, an LLP is lighter to maintain. The trade-off is compliance burden against fundraising ability, and it is much easier to decide correctly at the start than to convert later.
What does DPIIT recognition actually get me?
Recognition is the gateway to the benefits reserved for startups rather than a benefit in itself. It is what lets you apply for the startup tax exemption, self-certify under certain labour and environment laws, access relaxed public procurement norms, and claim concessions on intellectual property filings. Without recognition those doors stay shut.
Do I need Udyam if I am already a company?
They are different things. Incorporation creates the legal entity; Udyam records that entity as a micro, small or medium enterprise. Udyam is what most government subsidy schemes, priority sector lending and the delayed payment protections key off, so a company chasing scheme benefits generally needs both.
My trademark has been objected to. Is it lost?
Usually not. An examination report raising an objection is a normal stage, not a refusal, and most objections are answered with a written reply and, if needed, a hearing. What does lose applications is missing the reply window, after which the application is treated as abandoned and the filing fee and priority date go with it.
Starting up, or fixing something you skipped?
Tell us what stage you are at and we will tell you what actually needs to be in place.