How To Register Your Business name in Nigeria
The corporate Affairs Commission Nigeria in 2020 upgraded their functionality to include business name registration by non accredited corporate affairs agents or professionals.
The Upgrade meant that an unaccredited cac agent can comfortably sit inside his room and register a business name with the commission.
Before we proceed further , it is necessary to understand what a business name is, A business name is a name and style with which a person trades or carries on business activities .A business name is also called a Trade Name,A trade name is a common name which you style your business, it need not necessarily be your legal name or personal name, but when registered, it becomes a legal and business name.
Another vital point to note is that before registration with relevant government agency such as corporate affairs commission, a business name is not your legal name.
A business name does not translate to your legal name, it can only suffice as such upon registration.
In some countries like USA/CANADA, a business name is carefully highlighted with the use of abbreviations such as “DBA” meaning “doing business as”or “T/A meaning Trading As” an example, where an owner of a business name is sued or sues a defendant n Nigerian court, the name of the owner as party to the the suit, will appear as defendant/claimant plaintiff, and then the abbreviation “Trading as “or Doing Business as “, i illustrate further,Mr Okon Joseph is a business man, trading as OK JAH VENTURES But not registered nor approved with the corporate affairs commission with this name in Nigeria.
if Mr Joseph Okon enters into a contract with Samson Williams and in that name OK JAH VENTURES, there was a breach of his rights, in the contract, if he wishes to enforce it in the court,he can sue the client/defendant as MR OKON JOSEPH {TRADING AS OK JAH VENTURES} VS MR SAMSON WILLIAMS. this format also applies if it was the defendant suing Mr Okon Joseph .
A business name upon necessary registration with the commission, enjoys a status of both a registered business name and a legal name, however only a limited liability company, limited partnership and a limited liabilty partnership enjoys the status of a distinct separate legal personality, what this means is that the mentioned categories of companies enjoys a distinct personality from their directors and shareholders. it is worthy to note that this incidence is not in business name whether registered or unregistered.
STEPS TO REGISTER A BUSINESS NAME IN NIGERIA :
With the recent cac upgrade , registering a business name in Nigeria is very easy , that is even if you are not highly versed in commercial and corporate world, you can easily navigate your way.
- Generate an idea: To start with, you must first generate an idea, generating a unique name is done by finding out the driving idea or passion behind your business. it is necssary to use unique names to avoid disapproval from the commission.
- Create an account with Corporate affairs commission.both accredited and non – accredited professionals must register with the commission register with the commission, follow the link www.pre.cac.gov.ng and sign up with your registered email address and phone number, choose a password you can always remember.
- Propose a Name to Corporate Affairs Commission- it is expedient to note that cac, does not know your business name unless you propose it for registration to them. the commission will review your proposed application once you made payment, this is also called name availability search and reservation fee for a new business name registration.
- Result of the pre -registration Application for name availability – The commission will send in the result of the application within 24 hours after you made payment the result of the application is determined by a lot of factors, which we shall consider further.
PROHIBITED BUSINESS NAMES – in as much as you have the free will to choose the choice business name name for your business, the commission still reserves the sole right to approve or disapprove the name you proposed.
The corporate affairs commission has the following names under its prohibited lists,
i) Names Similar, confusing or in conflict with an existing business name.
ii) Name resembling ,or in similarity with an agency of the federal, state or local government of Nigeria
iii) A name whose objects conflicts with the objects of a business name registration, such as registering an association name as a business name.
iv) A name that has been registered with the commission and also trade marked under trademark registration laws in Nigeria.
TIMELINE FOR REGISTRATION OF BUSINESS NAME– The duration to complete or pay for an approved business name is 60 days. the corporate affairs commission reserves the right to still deny the name where it was approved in error, although they had given a pre-approval .the sixty days is for you to complete the ongoing registration
Business Name Reservation– Accordingly, doing a name search and name reservation precedes any business name registration in Nigeria. this is pivotal because the names you propose could be unavailable or have been for one reason or the other under the list of prohibited names at the moment , only a name reservation search conducted on it, cn reveal it. the fee for name search and reservation is N661, official fees including remita fees.
To get that done by a consultant, the fee is subject consultants discretion.
FEE FOR BUSINESS NAME REGISTRATION-the official fee for business name registration in Nigeria is N10,161. This includes the remita fees, we can not guarantee that this fee represents consultants fees.
OUR FEES FOR BUSINESS NAME AND COMPANY REGISTRATION– For the purpose of company registration, a limited liability registration fee for one million naira shares is Fifty thousand Naira (N50,000) While business name registration total fee is twenty two thousand Naira(N22,000)