Registering a business is beneficial if you have hopes of interacting with the government and formal sector. You can benefit from government support if you register your business through the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC).
How To Register
Visit the CIPC website and follow the step-by-step guides to apply.
The step-by-step guides help you through the application process, depending on the type of business that you are registering.
You can register your company without a name. However, if you finally decide on a name that is not approved, you will need to apply for a new company name.
You can apply for 1 to 4 names during each application process, each application to reserve a name will cost R50.
The CIPC allows you to register 5 types of businesses.
- If you want to run a franchise business, you have to register for it as a private company.
- If you want to register a church, you have to register for it as a non-profit company.
- A private school can be registered as a private company or
- A private school can also be registered as a non-profit company. This all depends on the objectives of the private school.
- If you want to register an association of professionals such as lawyers, doctors, civil engineers etc, you can register the association as a personal liability company.
Cost
The cost to register a company varies between R125 and R475.
A private company costs R125 and a non-profit company costs R475 if it is registered without members.
