4 Lessons Learned While Filling A Business Registration Form

In this blog post, we will be taking you through the lessons learned from our experience in registering a business so that you can avoid making the same mistake.

Lesson #1 – Nature of Business

The number one lesson you need to learn while filling the Business Name Registration Form is that you will need to think about one specific nature of business that describes your entire business. When registering a sole proprietor, you are only allowed to do one nature of business as compared to Limited company where it doesn’t have any limits. If you are planning to start a business that provides tourists with tours services then you can fill in ” Tours & Travel”. If your business on the other hand deals with repairing of computer hardware & software, you can put “Computer Repairs. Just general words such as “shop” or “retail”, trade” are not sufficient for Company Registry to proceed to register your business. You will need to avoid things like “General Supplies” which is popularly used but it will not be approved.

Lesson #2 – Plot Number/Land Reference Number

There has always been a confusion between Plot number & Land Reference Number. Well, they both describe the location of the land or building. They are both applicable & acceptable when filling the business registration form. So where can you find the plot number? Well, you need to look at your electricity bill or water bill of your business premises or simply ask the real estate agencies. If you don’t have business premises, you can use your home residential plot number/land reference number for registration that’s if you are starting your business from home, but you will need to update the records at Company Registry once you have a Business Premises.

Lesson #3 – Signature on the document

When it comes to signing the Business Name Registration Form, you need to make sure you do it correctly. For Sole Proprietor, you simply need to put one signature. However, Partnership Business that has more than 5 partners, it will be hard to fit in all the signatures on the two dotted lines. Don’t worry, you can simply get an additional A4 paper and have full names, ID number & signatures of the partners on it and then attach it to the application form when submitting.

Sometimes getting all partners to sign BN/2 form can be tricky due to people being busy. Well, there is an option that you can explore. One of the owner/ partners can sign on your behalf of the other partners as long as the Statutory Declaration printed alongside the form must be made before a Magistrate or Commissioner for Oaths (Lawyer) by one of the signatory partner or representative of the business.

Lesson #4 – Picking Up Your Certificate

You will be required to show some proof of payment towards the registration of your business in order to be given the certificate at the Company Registry. We advise all our clients that it is important to keep the receipt in a safe place. You are advised to make a photocopy in the event you misplace by mistake. If you misplace the receipt and don’t have other copies to prove that you made payment, it could mean that you might need to restart the entire process afresh.

• Download Business Name Registration Form (BN/2) [PDF, 92KB]

IMPORTANT! Kindly note that Registration of Business Name (BN/2) Form has 2 pages, and it will be required to be printed on one A4 paper (Back-to-Back).

If you are looking to avoid any of the above, you can simply request us to register your Sole Proprietor Business for you at the comfort of your home/office.

Photo Courtesy of practicalpmo.com