STEPS TO REGISTERING A BUSINESS NAME IN NIGERIA

One of the most important initial steps you need to take at this early stage of your business is to register your business entity. Today it's very simple to do so all by yourself. You only need the help of someone else if you simply don't have time to do it for yourself.

So let me show you how you can register your business name in Nigeria.

First, A Registered Business Name is one of the 3 general company structures which an individual can register in Nigeria, the other 2 are incorporated companies and incorporated trustees.

To register a business name in Nigeria, the following are the steps to take:

STEP1

Creat an account on CAC portal. Go to https://services.cac.gov.ng/ and click on the Register button. Fill out your basic details. Confirm your email and get ready for step 2.

STEP 2
Choose and Reserve a Name – The secomdstep is to decide on what name to use to register your business. The process is done online. You will apply to the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and suggest two alternate names for your business. The CAC will conduct a search in its database to ensure that the name is not already in use or there is no similar name already in use. If the CAC approves the name, then it will reserve the name for you for a 60-day period. During this period it is expected that you will complete the registration process for your business name. This service will cost you only N500 plus some Remita charges of about N100 or so. You pay with your debit card. Note that for each name search, you will have to pay this fee again so before you go about it, make sure the name you are submitting is unique to you and you business to avoid waste of money.

STEP 3
Take not of your approval code sent to you email. Copy it, login to your account of CAC, click on New Registration. Input your approval/ availability code, and Complete the Business Name Registration Forms that pops up.The information required to be completed includes:

  • Approved Name of the Business
  • General Nature of the Business
  • Address of the Business
  • Name, Address, Occupation and other details of the Proprietors of the Business
  • Signature of the Proprietors ( This can be appended after the registration)

STEP 3
Payment of CAC Filing Fees – The payment of the fees can be done online or can be completed in a bank. The Federal Government has reduced the cost of Business Name Registration to N5000 till March 2018. Take advantage of this window

STEP 4
Submission of Forms – Once the payment has been approved, you may then submit the forms online.

STEP 5
File Uploads- You are required to download the application forms, fill it manually and append your signature and passport photograph. The head over to http://docupload.cac.gov.ng/ to upload the form alongsode your payment receipt, ID Card and Notice of availability.

Once all these 4 documents have been submitted, you can just wait for not more than 48 hours to get approved. However, depending on how accurate you are while filling the form, you might be queried by the commission and you application can be kept pending until you resolve those queries and re-upload the aforementioned documents.

The entire process should ideally take about 1 week. You will get an email notification that your application is approved and ready for collection. You just proceed to the nearest CAC Collection centre to collect your Certficate. Note that you must print out and go with all 4 documents you uploaded with 2 passport photographs before you can be given your certificate.

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO NEXT?

If you would like us to assist you to register your business name for you, please note that our fee for this is N16,000. We handle the entire process for you from start to finish and deliver your certifcate to your doorstep in less than a week. You can use this form to get started