How To Register Your Business Name With Corporate Affairs Commission.

By Oshobukola Olufemi.

The Corporate Affairs Commission  regulates the formation and management of companies
in Nigeria. It is empowered by the Nigerian law to handle all issues associated with company registration,
business names, and incorporated trustees in Nigeria.

If you want to register your business name in Nigeria  without involving a third party ( eg an agent etc),
you will have to go directly to any of the Corporate Affairs Commission  branches all across the country. Corporate Affairs Commission  offices are mostly found  in most of the state capitals in Nigeria you can check  (http://www.cac.gov.ng, http://cacnigeria.org).

Why Register a Business Name?
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 or go into partnership with some companies.
 If you run a business without registering it and you get involved in a legal battle, you will Make sure you have

 at least two to four different unique names at hand before going to the  Corporate Affairs Commission 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 N200. You can also download the form from http://cacnigeria.org/jm/.

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 Corporate Affairs Commission 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 Corporate Affairs Commission 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:
 

The approved business name, 

The business address, 

The name of the sole proprietor or partners,

The address of the owner/s, 

Two passport photographs of the owner/s.

General nature of the business.

 If you can"t find the nature of your service choose general merchandise/trading. The Corporate Affairs Commission 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 2-3 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.