In Nigeria, up to70 percent of people who regard themselves as 'entrepreneurs' do not own a registered business. How then can anyone say he owns a business when such business is not legally registered. Some of this 'entrepreneurs' are ignorant about the importance and benefits of getting their business registered. The others who are not ignorant just choose to avoid the upfront cost of registration when they start their business.
Imagine Sam an entrepreneur who makes some of the finest shoes of high quality for men and women. He has been into the business of making shoes for over 10years and never bothered to register his "Sam Shoes". People actually go into the market to ask for "Sam Shoes" and his customers won't wear any other kind of shoes. Last year, Sunday another shoe making entrepreneur caught a bright idea and decided to register a company and named it "Sam Shoes Company".
After all the time, money and effort Sam had put into making his shoes, he could not afford to lose sales to Sunday or let him confuse his customers. Sam decides to sue Sunday.
Who do you think will win the case when they get to court? Of course, only the registered business will exist in the eyes of the law. Even though Sam had been running his business for years, he had been owning and operating a business that does not legally exist.
This is a sad example of the kind of unfortunate things that could happen when a business is not properly set up and registered. It is often tempting to postpone or think that business registration can wait or is not really important.
The truth is, you may be building something that could become very big and popular in the future. However, if you don’t do something as basic as registering your business, all your hardwork could easily be wasted, or worse, taken over by somebody else.
Registration of Businesses in Nigeria is regulated by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and in my next article I will discuss the various classifications of registrations done at the CAC and also the types of business entities that exist.
The BENEFITS of REGISTERING a BUSINESS are;
1. TO SECURE THE NAME: This is the first advantage of having your company registered with the corporate affairs is to ensure your company name is not registered by someone else. So strive to register your company name now before someone else registers it before you.
2. REPUTATION WITH CUSTOMERS: Building reputation especially from customers and clients you’ve never done business before is very difficult. Registering your business gives your potential customers confidence that they are dealing with a reputable organization. If your business is online based and you have the option of customers paying to your company account before you can ship the goods or services, having a registered business together with a corporate account give more credibility and trust.
3. LEGAL LIABILITY PROTECTION: When you register your business as Limited Liability Company, you are a different entity from your company. You also get legal liability protection. If you incorporate, you will not be held personally responsible for certain accidents and other liabilities. Example is If you obtained loan and you defaulted in payment, your bank will not seize your property except the company asset because you are protected from such incidence.
4. ACCESSIBILITY TO LOANS: Having your company registered helps you to access loans from banks, because they no longer see you as an individual but a corporate body and will be comfortable to do business with you if you are able to meet other requirements.
5. YOUR BUSINESS OUTLIVE YOU: another wonderful benefit is that even if you’re dead or become incapacitated, your business continues especially when you have the right structure in place.
6. INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES: Another great benefit of business registration is that you can easily obtain visa and travelto any country for business purposes. Every country always welcomes foreign investors who are interested in doing business in their country because such good investments will add value to their economy.
7. CERTIFICATE OF INCORPORATION : You will be issued certificate of incorporation by the appropriate government agency. In Nigeria the Federal Government of Nigeria issues through Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Government agency empowered to register companies and issue certificates.
8. OPENING A COMPANY'S ACCOUNT: Another great benefit of registering your company name is to use it to open corporate account in your company name. Having corporate account give you more credibility and trust from your customers, bank, suppliers and other business partners.
The entire process of registering a business can be completed in 24 hours. You might need to hire a lawyer to register your business especially if it's a company.
The Companies and Allied Matters Act which establishes the C.A.C. requires that a person must be 18 years old and above to register a business in Nigeria.
It may cost you some money, time and effort but it’s really a small price to pay to avoid costly damages and regret down the road. Getting your business registered is not only the right thing to do, it’s also the smart thing to do in today’s complex and fast changing business world. Register your business today.
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Hello. Can one who has registered just business name only decide later to register it as a limited liability company?

Yes, but it's a very long process.
If u can go through it.

Insi just start from the beginning with a similar name

Vindica:
Yes, but it's a very long process.
If u can go through it.

How do you mean sir?

Vindica:
Insi just start from the beginning with a similar name

Do you mean separately registering a company with the same name I used to register a business name?

The same name won't be available, because you have not cancelled the business name certification. You can use a similar name.

Vindica:
The same name won't be available, because you have not cancelled the business name certification. You can use a similar name.

got it, thanks.

Vindica:
The same name won't be available, because you have not cancelled the business name certification. You can use a similar name.

You can convert a Business Name to a Company. The issue of using a Similar name apply to only new Registeration and not conversion.