How to register a new business in Nigeria
There are many reasons why you should register your business or startup in Nigeria. One good reason is that no entity will take your business seriously without this, whether or not you are doing business with them. Generally, people are more comfortable paying money into a corporate bank account of a registered organisation than an individual account. You can read more about the pro’s and cons here but in this article, we will guide you on how to register a business name with the corporate affairs commission (CAC) in Nigeria after you have validated your business idea.
You can register a business name in two major ways:
Hire the services of a lawyer which could cost you anything from about 10k upwards (Nigerian Naira of course) depending on the type of registration which you can also read more about here.
Get it done yourself by first visiting the CAC website here to search for a business name which cost 500 Nigerian Naira, and subsequently walking into the office of any corporate affairs commission branch close to you after your name search approval to complete the formalities and probably get your registration certificate.
Well it is not as easy at it sounds; the problem with the second method is that you need to be familiar with the process, especially if you are registering an LTD or LLC else, you could end up spending more money and months, or even years trying to complete the process of registering your business.
More information about the process
If you conduct your business name search from the CAC portal online, all things being equal, you should get your approval or disapproval notice in less than 72hrs. The system will ask you to provide two business names for your startup during the search. This is a norm. In the event that one of your chosen names is not available the second might be. This is not also an assurance that both of your chosen names will be available or either of them would be approved. In chosen business names, you should try to make certain that you choose unique names. You can get tips on choosing great business names here. If your chosen names are declined, you will need to repeat the process again and yes, you will also be paying another fee also.
Once approved, the name reservation is held for a period of 60days. You will be required to complete the remaining documentation within those days to prevent starting all over again.
Other costs and information can be found on the CAC official website.
