Starting a business — checklist

Before you register

Decide what structure fitsBusiness name, private company, incorporated trustees or partnership. The choice affects liability, tax treatment, and how you take investment later.
Agree ownership in writing before tradingWho owns what percentage, who decides what, what happens if someone leaves. Founders who skip this rarely disagree at the start — they disagree later.
Check the name is available and not already someone's trademarkAvailability at the registry and freedom to use as a brand are two separate questions.
Confirm whether your activity needs a sector licenceFinancial services, health, education, transport, food and several other sectors require permissions that incorporation does not supply.

Register with the Corporate Affairs CommissionIncorporation under CAMA 2020 creates the separate legal person. Keep the certificate and the registered particulars where you can find them.
Adopt articles that match how you actually intend to run itModel articles are a starting point, not a decision. Share transfers, director appointment and deadlock deserve thought.
Record beneficial ownershipCAMA 2020 requires disclosure of persons with significant control. Get it right at the start rather than correcting it later.
Register for tax and obtain your tax identificationRegistration obligations begin with the entity, not with profitability.

Open a bank account in the company's nameNever run company money through a personal account. It undermines the separation the structure exists to create.
Set up bookkeeping from the first transactionStatutory registers, minutes and financial records are obligations and evidence at the same time.
Keep a written record of every decision that mattersA short minute of who approved what, and when, costs minutes now and settles arguments later.

Put employment terms in writing before anyone startsRole, pay, hours, leave, notice, confidentiality and intellectual property. Silence in a contract is where disputes begin.
Distinguish employees from contractors deliberatelyThe label on the document does not settle the question; the substance of the relationship matters.
Use written terms with customers and suppliersScope, price, payment timing, liability and termination. Agree whose terms govern before the first order, not during the first dispute.

Map your data protection obligationsIf you hold customer or staff personal data, the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023 applies to you. Decide your lawful basis and your retention practice early.
Diarise your recurring filingsAnnual returns, tax filings and sector renewals. Put them in a calendar owned by a named person, not in someone's memory.

Decide what structure fitsBusiness name, private company, incorporated trustees or partnership. The choice affects liability, tax treatment, and how you take investment later.
Agree ownership in writing before tradingWho owns what percentage, who decides what, what happens if someone leaves. Founders who skip this rarely disagree at the start — they disagree later.
Check the name is available and not already someone's trademarkAvailability at the registry and freedom to use as a brand are two separate questions.
Confirm whether your activity needs a sector licenceFinancial services, health, education, transport, food and several other sectors require permissions that incorporation does not supply.

Register with the Corporate Affairs CommissionIncorporation under CAMA 2020 creates the separate legal person. Keep the certificate and the registered particulars where you can find them.
Adopt articles that match how you actually intend to run itModel articles are a starting point, not a decision. Share transfers, director appointment and deadlock deserve thought.
Record beneficial ownershipCAMA 2020 requires disclosure of persons with significant control. Get it right at the start rather than correcting it later.
Register for tax and obtain your tax identificationRegistration obligations begin with the entity, not with profitability.

Open a bank account in the company's nameNever run company money through a personal account. It undermines the separation the structure exists to create.
Set up bookkeeping from the first transactionStatutory registers, minutes and financial records are obligations and evidence at the same time.
Keep a written record of every decision that mattersA short minute of who approved what, and when, costs minutes now and settles arguments later.

Put employment terms in writing before anyone startsRole, pay, hours, leave, notice, confidentiality and intellectual property. Silence in a contract is where disputes begin.
Distinguish employees from contractors deliberatelyThe label on the document does not settle the question; the substance of the relationship matters.
Use written terms with customers and suppliersScope, price, payment timing, liability and termination. Agree whose terms govern before the first order, not during the first dispute.

Map your data protection obligationsIf you hold customer or staff personal data, the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023 applies to you. Decide your lawful basis and your retention practice early.
Diarise your recurring filingsAnnual returns, tax filings and sector renewals. Put them in a calendar owned by a named person, not in someone's memory.