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Sole proprietors are unincorporated individuals operating a business without a separate legal entity. They don’t have an EIN and register differently from corporations and LLCs.

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When to use sole_proprietor

Use organization.type: "sole_proprietor" when:
  • You’re an individual operating under your own name or a DBA (doing business as)
  • You don’t have a business EIN. Taxes for your business are filed under your personal Social Security Number
  • You’re not incorporated
Do not use sole_proprietor if your business name includes “LLC”, “Inc.”, “Corp.”, or “Ltd.” Those are incorporated entities and require llc, private_corporation, or public_corporation respectively. This is a common, easily caught rejection — see Avoiding rejection → Business type / EIN mismatch.

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What’s different

No EIN required. Sole proprietors skip the identifier_type and identifier fields. Surge and the carriers use other verification methods for identity. Additional disclosures. Carrier regulations require additional reporting and disclosure language for sole proprietor campaigns. Surge handles these requirements automatically. You don’t need to add anything to your messages. Dashboard-first. The dashboard registration form has a dedicated flow for the sole proprietor path, with questions and guidance specific to this business type. We recommend completing sole proprietor registration through the dashboard. Lower volume. Sole proprietor campaigns typically have lower throughput caps than corporation campaigns. If you expect high message volume, incorporating your business may be worth considering.

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What to prepare

  • Your full legal name (as it appears on government-issued ID)
  • A live, public-facing website or social media profile in your business’s name — reviewers visit it, and a coming-soon page or one with the wrong name fails review
  • Your opt-in flow and consent disclosures
  • A valid business email address (ideally at your business domain, not personal Gmail)
  • Sample messages
The rest of the registration process follows the same pattern as standard registration: create a campaign, add sample messages, link your privacy policy and terms, and wait for review. See Register via API for the full step-by-step walkthrough.