Hustling in Joburg: How To Register Your First Business


By Msimeki Nkatingi

With the current official unemployment rate in South Africa sitting at an unprecedented 34.4%, it is safe to say that the job market is not looking too great for the average South African. Even for those currently employed, there seems to be little prospect of increasing your earning potential. The current climate gives even more reason for people to start their businesses. If there's anything to take from this shockingly high unemployment rate which analysts predict may increase in the future, it is to vuk'uzenzele (wake up and do it for yourself).

An integral part of entering the business climate as a business owner is to register your business as an entity. There are multiple kinds of businesses that you can register as Namely; Sole Proprietor, Partnership, Private Company. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages. We will get into those another time, for the sake of this piece, one will assume that the reader has a rough idea of which they prefer.

There are three main avenues in which a Joburger can register their business, the first being an in-person walk in, and the other two being online registrations.For the in-person walk in, one needs to visit the Companies and Intellectual Property
Commission (CIPC) centre which is located at Talis House No.17, Simmonds Street, Marshalltown, Johannesburg. Here you will find self-service terminals and employees in the building who will assist you with any additional information that you may need on what the methods for registration are.

The second method to register a business will require you to visit the CIPC e-services terminal on the CIPC website. You will be required to create a profile and deposit the required amount of money into the CIPC bank account using your profile ID as the
reference. This method is especially great for people who might be registering companies on
behalf of other people as well.

The final method is to use a website called bizportal. The only catch to this method is that it is only open to South African citizens. However, if you are a South African citizen, this method is most likely the easiest and most straightforward of the three.
Registering a business can cost you as little as R125 if you do not choose to register a name. For name registration, an additional R50 will be required. If you do decide on registering a name as well, make sure to have three options available just in case your first option is unavailable. From here on you need to submit all the relevant documents that will be required from you within 10 days in order to have successful processing.

This is only the first step into getting going with your business venture on its journey to success and putting food on the table.

Article Tags

Joburg

Economy

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