Cookie Biz - The process

First steps...figure out what you need to start a cookie business in California.
Well, it is NOT a short list of things to do.
You need to choose a business name.
Hmmmm, that should be easy. So, I started to think about names.
Annie Baker's Cookies
Annie's Cookies
AB Cookies
The Baker's Cookies
the list goes on and on.
Then one day I was chatting with my friends who own a beautiful bed and breakfast in downtown Napa and they mentioned Annie B's cookies would be perfect for me.
I liked it. So, I was going to name my new buisness Annie B's Cookies.
Yippee!!! Now you need to do a search on the Internet to make sure it is not taken by another business. I searched and searched, found some Annie B's confections that existed in Buck County, PA. And thought, well, it is not Annie B's Cookies, so let's go.
I was all set and then a really good friend of mine brought me a caramel she found at Vallergas Market and it said, Annie B's Caramels. AHHHH!!!!!
I was bummed. I typed that into the search engine and ther it was...a Minnesota based candy company. Problem was they did not have a website, so I never saw any information pop up on them. I decided there has to be a better way to research this name thing.
I went to the trademark and copyright website and started searching for my new name...Annie the Baker. It did not exist. Wahoo!!!
I deemed my new company name, Annie the Baker.
So, once you figure out the name you quickly go to GoDaddy.com and purchased the domain name AnnietheBaker.com for a small annual fee.
Then it was off to the county clerk to file a fictitious name report (also referred to as Doing Business As)for $20 and to the local newspaper to have them publish the fictitious name report for 4 weeks in the paper. That was $73 for the 4 week ad. EEKS!!!
Now onward to find someone to help me design a logo for Annie the Baker.
This is fun!!