A businesswoman or an entrepreneur and you want to take it to the next level? Your decision to own a company means it is no more a ‘one man’ business.
You have more regulations to abide by and your company and you are separate entities. In incorporating your company, you need a lawyer, who called the Nigerian bar and has her name on the roll at the supreme court, every step of the way.
Decide if you want a private or public company. A publicly owned company can freely trade stocks and is listed on a well-known stock exchange while a private company is an opposite. However, a private company can become public if they wish to.
Decide the kind of business you want to run and a company name which must end with Plc. [ Public Limited Company] Or Ltd. [Private Limited Company].
A company must have at least two directors as you cannot own an LLC [Private Limited Company] in Nigeria as a sole shareholder. An office address even if it is an online platform and a company secretary.
A Memorandum and Article of Association are the constitutions and policies of the company.
There are also necessary CAC [Corporate Affairs Commission] forms to be filled once the above has been decided, such as:
Form 1, Reservation of name and availability check
Form 2, Statement share capital and return allotment. Stamp duty charge applies to this form
Form 2.1, Particulars of Secretary of the company
Form 3, Notice of the registered office
Form 4, Declaration of compliance with the requirement of CAMA which is signed by a lawyer. CAMA means Companies and Allied Matters Act.
Form 7, Particulars of directors or any change therein.
After these documents have been duly signed and submitted, the Certificate of Incorporation should get to you within a few weeks if there are no queries from the CAC.
The company must be registered for corporate income tax and VAT with the Federal Inland Revenue Service. All permits and licenses required for full operation must be obtained.
It is important to get your company and its employees insured. Getting a company to a point where it is fully rooted is a gradual process, you will eventually get there.
The good thing about owning a company is, that the company is truly made of people but then it stands on its own, the death of the owners does not necessarily become the end of the company.
The name goes on and even when there is a change, there is still a story to tell. A legacy.
