Legal Question in Business Law in Texas

You have a few options. The least expensive option is to operate as a sole proprietorship and, as you stated, register an assumed name with the county. For instance, you business name would be David Hays d/b/a David Haze. Your business bank accounts, contracts, etc. would reflect the entire name, i.e. David Hays d/b/a David Haze. The draw back to operating in this manner is that you are individually liable for any legal liability b/c of your sole prop status. You could choose to set up a limited liability company and request the name of your choice. This requires that you designate the type of entity in the company name. I.E. David Haze, LLC. Your bank accounts and contracts, etc. would reflect the same. The advantage to this set up is that you separate your individual person from the liabilities of the business. Not sure if that is a concern of yours at this point. The set up in the front end is more costly but provides you more options and protections in the long run both from a liability and tax point of view. If you choose to set up an LLC a would recommend that you retain counsel to do so. It is important that you entity operate as such in order to avail yourself of its advantages.