Case study . DTC e-commerce

Bayside DTC scaled from $0 to $2M ARR with a clean DBA + LLC + sales-tax stack

A solo founder launched a DTC apparel brand, scaled to $2M ARR in 18 months, and stayed compliant across 6 states with a streamlined LLC + DBA + sales tax stack from File.Business.

Florida + 5 foreign states DTC apparel . $2M ARR
Before File.Business

Sole proprietor selling under personal name. No LLC. Bank deposits going to personal account. No DBA. No sales tax permits. Risk increasing with every order.

After File.Business

Florida LLC operating under "Bayside" DBA. Sales tax permits in 6 states tracking economic nexus. Foreign qualified where needed. Clean banking. Liability-shielded. Audit-ready books from day one.

Background

A solo founder launched a direct-to-consumer apparel brand from Miami. The first 6 months were testing under a personal name. As revenue picked up, the founder needed an LLC, a DBA for the brand, sales tax permits in the states where physical inventory was held, and a clean structure that could scale to multi-state operations without re-papering everything.

File.Business handled the LLC formation, DBA filing, EIN, and sales tax registrations as a single coordinated engagement. Over the next 18 months as the business grew to $2M ARR, File.Business added foreign qualifications in 5 additional states where the brand crossed economic nexus thresholds.

The entity stack

Entity Purpose
Bayside Apparel, LLC (FL)Florida LLC. Single-member, operating entity.
"Bayside" DBAFictitious name filed in Florida. Customer-facing brand.
Sales tax registrationsFL, CA, TX, NY, IL, NC. Foreign qualified in CA + NY + TX.

Outcomes

  • $0 to $2M ARR in 18 months with clean compliance throughout.
  • Liability-shielded from order #1.
  • Multi-state sales tax tracked in real time as nexus thresholds were crossed.
  • Brand asset cleanly held via DBA + USPTO trademark assignment to the LLC.

Run your business through one platform.

From formation to ongoing compliance, File.Business handles the entity stack so you can focus on the work that actually grows the business.

Start your business → Talk to a specialist
How it works

Four steps from request to delivery

File.Business runs your filing on a single concierge workflow. You provide what we need; we handle the rest.

1

Tell us what you need

2-minute intake. We confirm the filing type, jurisdiction, and any supporting documents required.

2

We prepare the filing

Our specialists draft the document, validate against state requirements, and queue for your review where required.

3

We submit to the state

Filed through the state portal. We pay the state fee, track the submission, and resolve any state correspondence.

4

Confirmation in your vault

state-required document delivered to your SOC 2 encrypted document vault, with deadline tracking for the next filing.

500K+
Filings completed
51 jurisdictions
All US states + DC tracked
SOC 2 secured
Encrypted document vault
99.6% on-time
Annual reports filed in window
$0 hidden fees
Flat-rate service pricing

Ready to get started?

File.Business handles formation, filings, registered agent service, and ongoing compliance across all 51 US jurisdictions on a single concierge platform.

File.Business is a private business filing and compliance service. We are not a government agency and are not affiliated with any Secretary of State office. You may file directly with the appropriate state agency. SOC 2 Type II audited. 220,000+ businesses formed since 2017.
2025 BOI rule update US entities are now exempt. Check if you still need to file →
Niche EntityA holding company is an LLC (or Corporation) whose primary purpose is to own equity in subsidiary operating entities, not to operate a business itself. Wyoming and Delaware are the