By Benita Ayo
Registering a business venture is oftentimes the best and wisest move an entrepreneur should always take before launching out. The reason for this is not far-fetched.
In most situations, when an entrepreneur fails to register his business prior to its commencement, the desired business name may become subject to disapproval whenever he chooses to register the business at a later date.
This is one reason why it is strongly advised that a business undergoes the necessary registration with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
Let it be known that it is never enough to simply register a business and retreat. There are still things the law expects a business owner to do after registration of a business with the CAC.
For instance, every business entity, such as (Limited Liability Company (Public or Private), Limited Liability Partnership (LLP), Limited Partnership (LP), Business Name (BN), Incorporated Trustees (IT) etc, are all expected to file the Annual Returns of their businesses on or before the 30th June of each fiscal year. Failure to do this attracts penalties for default.
In extreme circumstances, where a business entity has failed to file its Annual Returns for consecutive years, the entity’s profile with the Corporate Registry will be deemed inactive.
In sum, while most business entities continue to transact their businesses unabated, a check on their profiles at the Corporate Registry will reveal that such businesses are, in truth, inactive.