Before registering a company, these are the primary things you first need to consider:
1. The type of business
2. The business capital
3. The Company’s name
4. The Company’s Office, Address, and Location
5. The number of shareholders
6. The amount of shares
7. At least two directors
8. A secretary
9. An Auditor
10. Commencement of operations within one year of registration
The type of business
A company (Co.) may be registered to make profit, or not to make profit. Businesses set up to make profit are limited liability companies, which are companies ordinarily having ‘Ltd.‘ attached to their names. Eg. Bendebs Shipping Ltd. Those set up not to make profit are registered as NGOs (Non-Governmental Organisation) which companies does not have Ltd. but ordinarily have ‘Org.’ or Foundation attached to their names. I.e. Bendebs Charity Org. or Bendebs Foundation. The law requires the liability of some companies to be without limit, hence an Unlimited Liability Company. E.g. law firms such as Aguda & Co. Unlimited, etc.
The business capital
Business capital is the amount of money and assets (furniture, computers, vehicle, labour, office, etc.) which you require for the operations of the company.
The Company’s name
The name of your Company must be unique, thus it must not have been used and registered by any other company or person. Before you register your business, you can find out whether your company’s name is unique or otherwise by visiting the website of the Registrar General’s Department and searching its registered business names record.
Company’s Office, Address and Location
You must have an office space and an address for the operations of your business. No particular standards are required. The most important thing is a space reasonably okay for your company’s operations.
The number of shareholders
You then determine how many people are willing to own the company. If you want to own it yourself, then you become the sole shareholder. If others are willing to own it jointly with you, then they become shareholders with you, and the Shares of the company are shared accordingly.
The Amount of Shares
The ownership of a company is determined by who owns its Shares or part of its Shares. So at the point of registration you have to inform the registrar of companies about the quantity of Shares (its number: e.g. 5,000 Shares) as well as the value of the quantity Shares (If 1 Share is valued at GHS1.00 or USD1.00, then the 5,000 Shares shall be valued at GHS5,000.00 or USD5,000.00). Note that you are not required to pay this amount to the Registrar, but rather the amount of Shares determines the Shareholder(s) liability upon winding up or liquidation or ending the operations of the company and the company has some debts to settle. The shareholder(s) will be liable only for the amount of Shares held without more, even if the entire value of the Shares is unable settle the entire debt.
At least two directors
The law requires that a company operates with at least two directors. The shareholder(s) or owner(s) may be the director(s) of the company. The shareholder(s) may employ some other persons to take over the directorship.
A Secretary
A Company needs a secretary to operate. A shareholder may be the secretary as well.
An Auditor
A company must have an Auditor for periodic audit of its accounts, for the purposes of filing returns at the end of every year, ending 31st December of every year.
Commencement of operations within one year of registration
The law seeks to avoid situations where people will register companies that never go into operations. For this reason, the Registrar may remove or Struck out a registered company’s name if the company fails to start operations within one year of registration or incorporation.