Registering a business: what you actually need
Business name or limited company, what each costs you in obligations, and the documents to have ready before you start.
The choice between a business name and a limited company is usually made on the registration fee, which is the least important difference between them.
Business name
Cheaper and faster, and it does not create a separate legal person. Your business debts are your debts. Fine for a sole trader testing an idea, and a problem the moment you take on real liability or want to bring in a partner.
Limited company
Costs more and carries more obligations, and gives you a separate legal person. The company owes its own debts, can hold assets and contracts in its own name, and can issue shares. Nearly every customer who asks for your CAC documents is expecting to see a company.
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What to have ready
Two or three proposed names, in order of preference
A valid ID for every director or proprietor
A registered address, which cannot be a PO box
Your objects, meaning a plain description of what the business does
For a company: share capital, and how it splits between shareholders
The bit that follows
Registration is the start of an obligation rather than the end of an errand. From the day you incorporate you owe annual returns, and depending on turnover and sector you may owe VAT, PAYE for staff, and sector filings on top.
Registering is one afternoon. Staying compliant is the ongoing part, and it is what Complier is for.
