The days of paying a large amount of money to a lawyer or accountant to register a company name for you are gone. You’ll learn how to do your business name registration in a matter of minutes.
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But first, why do you need to register a business name?
- Your organization deserves a distinct identity. You don’t want people to mistake your company for someone else’s. A distinctive name aids in distinguishing the company from the competition.
- You cannot open a bank account for your company in Nigeria unless you have a business name registration certificate. It would be best if you were signed in.
- To receive a tax clearance for your company, you must first register your business name. You can’t pay taxes or get a tax clearance if your company isn’t properly registered.
- People would be more willing to do business with you if they see that your company is properly licensed. Unregistered businesses have an air of illegitimacy about them.
In Nigeria, the Corporate Affairs Commission is in charge of company name registration (C.A.C.). You may register the company as a sole proprietorship, a private limited company, an incorporated trustee, or an unlimited company using the C.A.C.
However, sole proprietorships and limited private corporations are the most frequently registered businesses in Nigeria. I’m assuming that most readers are interested in registering one of these two companies, so I’ll concentrate on them.
Obtain a Business Name Search Form
This will set you back N500 and take two weeks to complete. This is the first step in registering a company in Nigeria, and it assists you in coming up with a unique name.
All you have to do is come up with three different names and then fill out and submit the form. You should check back in two weeks to see what the results are.
To avoid repeating this exercise, take the time to sit down and come up with a unique name—don’t use names you found on the internet or go with common success enterprises like Favor Nigeria Limited or Alubarika P.L.C.; trust me, those names are already taken.
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Fill the Business Registration Form
For sole proprietorships (business name registration), this type costs N250, and for limited companies, it costs N500. After you’ve received your business name search results, fill out and submit this form.
This is practically where it stops with a sole proprietorship, except that you’ll have to pay N10,000 for company name registration. Restricted firms, on the other hand, have more work ahead of them.
- Shareholders-: A limited partnership must have at least two adults as shareholders. These people may be your business partners, family, children, or siblings. Your shareholders may also act as directors of your company.
- Objects of Business-: This is where you describe your company’s essence and the types of work you’ll be doing.
- Name of Directors-: You must also include two individuals who will serve as the company’s directors. Shareholders have the right to serve as directors.
- Registered Address-: This will be the company’s permanent address. It would be best if you considered using a permanent residential address to prevent continuously changing addresses.
- Shares-: This is where you can enter details about your company’s share capital. Specialized firms, such as banks, have strict minimum share capital requirements, but a minimum of one million shares may be considered for regular businesses. The shares would be distributed among the shareholders as well. Shareholders must obtain a minimum of 25% of the total number of shares.
- Fees-: If you decide to hire an agent or not, you will determine this. However, at least N30,000,000 should be set aside for this reason.