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How to Upgrade Your Business Name Into A Limited Liability Company



So, your business has grown, and its present structure can no longer sustain your expansion. You need a bigger business model, which necessitates transforming your present Business Name (BN) into a Limited Liability Company (LTD). Can you upgrade your present business name into a limited liability company? The answer is yes.

There are only a few things to consider.

First, do you want to maintain the present name? Whatever your answer, you must search for a name to confirm that the name is available for use. Also, remember that you may change the nature of business or include a new nature of business when you upgrade to a limited liability company.

Second, are you up to date with your annual returns filings? If not, you must sort it out. This is often the biggest barrier to upgrades and where most owners of business names get discouraged, and decide to opt for a new company instead. If you’re not up-to-date on your annual returns filings, it will cost you far more to make an upgrade. So, the advice is this: if you plan to upgrade your business name to a limited liability company later in the future, make sure your file your annual returns with the CAC.

Third, once you scale through the first and second stages, you may upgrade to a limited liability company. The information needed for the upgrade are:

  1. Nature of business
  2. Office address, phone number and email.
  3. The Director(s)’s details: Names, addresses, phone numbers, emails, dates of birth, occupation, signatures and Nat ID card/NIN
  4. The Secretary's details: as above (optional)
  5. The Shareholder(s)'s details: as above
  6. Sharing formula for the shares among the shareholder(s)

Articles on this site are meant for general knowledge only, not as professional advice. If you need personal advice on matters contained herein, you are advised to contact a professional.

We are a firm of legal practitioners and CAC-certified agents. We help business owners, entrepreneurs and associations register their businesses, companies and associations with ease. If you need our help with any of the matters contained in the article, feel free to send us a mail at niyiama@yahoo.com or reach us on WhatsApp @ +234-08126194751.


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