Registering your business name is highly encouraged. It gives
you the legality to use the name to do business. It will make so
many people to have confidence in doing business with you. In
fact, without a registered business name, you will not be able
to do business with government parastatals and go into
partnership with some big companies. If you run a business
without registering it and you get involved in a legal battle,
you will
The first time I tried registering my business name, I went to
the CAC office in Lagos. I met an agent who discouraged me
from doing it by myself, claiming it will take several months
for me to even know if my business name is available or not.
She sweet-mouth me so she can do it for me for a fee. I
agreed and I paid her some of the money she demanded so she
can get started asap.
Unfortunately, I couldn't follow up on the process because I
moved down to Benue few days after paying her, to resume to
my dream job. On getting to Benue, I visited the CAC office in
Makurdi and I was able to register my business name by
myself with less than N5, 000.
==> Walk in to any CAC office. Most are located in the state
capitals. You can get the contact info of the CAC state
offices at http://cacnigeria.org/jm/
==> Make sure you have at least three different unique names
at hand before going to the CAC office
The names must not contain words like "National",
"Government", "State", "Co-operative" etc
The names must not be similar to any business or
trade mark already registered in Nigeria
The use of the word "Consulting" and registration
of some professional services will require that you
provide evidence of the relevant professional
qualifications and/or registrations. Please try
avoiding such if you do not have such professional
qualifications.
==> Tell the CAC staff you want to register your business
name. You will be told to pay for the ‘Availability Check and
Reservation of Name Form’ and file. Both costs approximately
N500. You can also download the form from http://
cacnigeria.org/jm/.
Below is a screenshot of the form. Note that this might change
with time.
==> Fill the form and submit. The CAC staff will guide you in
filling it. You will be told to check back, after a week or two
to know the fate of the business names submitted. In my own
case, the CAC staff called my phone number after a week, to
come to the office to finalize my registration.
This is the most challenging stage of the whole process
because you can’t proceed to the next stage if your
business name has not been approved. If CAC disapproves
both names submitted, you have to buy another ‘Availability
Form’ and go though the process again.
==> If any of the submitted names is approved, you will be told
to pay N4,000 for the proper registration of the business
name. You can check out the CAC fee here: http://
www.cac.gov.ng/Pages/fee.htm
==> You will be provided with a registration form to use in
registering the approved business name
Below are the requirements for the business name registration
form:
a) the approved business name,
b) the business address,
c) the name of the sole proprietor or partners,
d) the address of the owner/s,
e) two passport photographs of the owner/s.
f) general nature of the business. Mine falls under internet
services and general merchandise/trading. The CAC staff
might present a document to you containing the categories of
business names. From the list, you will choose the categories
that matches your kind of business
On completion of the form, you will need to submit the form
with the receipt of payment of the N4, 000. You will be asked
to come for your certificate in 2-4 weeks time. The
commission will register the name after satisfying that the
necessary documents and information are in place. Once you
collect your certificate of registration of business name,
you can boast anywhere of running a legal business.
I hope this helps.
In my future posts, I will share with you how to open a
corporate bank account with your certificate
of registration of business name. If you do not want to miss
this, SUBSCRIBE here.
If you have contributions or questions to ask, kindly relay
them via comments.
You can read about company registration in Nigeria here.
Why Register a Business Name?
Business Registeration in Nigeria: The Steps
100 Like
you the legality to use the name to do business. It will make so
many people to have confidence in doing business with you. In
fact, without a registered business name, you will not be able
to do business with government parastatals and go into
partnership with some big companies. If you run a business
without registering it and you get involved in a legal battle,
you will
The first time I tried registering my business name, I went to
the CAC office in Lagos. I met an agent who discouraged me
from doing it by myself, claiming it will take several months
for me to even know if my business name is available or not.
She sweet-mouth me so she can do it for me for a fee. I
agreed and I paid her some of the money she demanded so she
can get started asap.
Unfortunately, I couldn't follow up on the process because I
moved down to Benue few days after paying her, to resume to
my dream job. On getting to Benue, I visited the CAC office in
Makurdi and I was able to register my business name by
myself with less than N5, 000.
==> Walk in to any CAC office. Most are located in the state
capitals. You can get the contact info of the CAC state
offices at http://cacnigeria.org/jm/
==> Make sure you have at least three different unique names
at hand before going to the CAC office
The names must not contain words like "National",
"Government", "State", "Co-operative" etc
The names must not be similar to any business or
trade mark already registered in Nigeria
The use of the word "Consulting" and registration
of some professional services will require that you
provide evidence of the relevant professional
qualifications and/or registrations. Please try
avoiding such if you do not have such professional
qualifications.
==> Tell the CAC staff you want to register your business
name. You will be told to pay for the ‘Availability Check and
Reservation of Name Form’ and file. Both costs approximately
N500. You can also download the form from http://
cacnigeria.org/jm/.
Below is a screenshot of the form. Note that this might change
with time.
==> Fill the form and submit. The CAC staff will guide you in
filling it. You will be told to check back, after a week or two
to know the fate of the business names submitted. In my own
case, the CAC staff called my phone number after a week, to
come to the office to finalize my registration.
This is the most challenging stage of the whole process
because you can’t proceed to the next stage if your
business name has not been approved. If CAC disapproves
both names submitted, you have to buy another ‘Availability
Form’ and go though the process again.
==> If any of the submitted names is approved, you will be told
to pay N4,000 for the proper registration of the business
name. You can check out the CAC fee here: http://
www.cac.gov.ng/Pages/fee.htm
==> You will be provided with a registration form to use in
registering the approved business name
Below are the requirements for the business name registration
form:
a) the approved business name,
b) the business address,
c) the name of the sole proprietor or partners,
d) the address of the owner/s,
e) two passport photographs of the owner/s.
f) general nature of the business. Mine falls under internet
services and general merchandise/trading. The CAC staff
might present a document to you containing the categories of
business names. From the list, you will choose the categories
that matches your kind of business
On completion of the form, you will need to submit the form
with the receipt of payment of the N4, 000. You will be asked
to come for your certificate in 2-4 weeks time. The
commission will register the name after satisfying that the
necessary documents and information are in place. Once you
collect your certificate of registration of business name,
you can boast anywhere of running a legal business.
I hope this helps.
In my future posts, I will share with you how to open a
corporate bank account with your certificate
of registration of business name. If you do not want to miss
this, SUBSCRIBE here.
If you have contributions or questions to ask, kindly relay
them via comments.
You can read about company registration in Nigeria here.
Why Register a Business Name?
Business Registeration in Nigeria: The Steps
100 Like
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