A company is an association of two or more persons who incorporate their company for the purpose of making profits. A company can be private or public. A company can also be limited, unlimited or limited by guarantee. A private company can be formed by a minimum of two persons and a maximum of fifty persons; while a public company can be formed by a minimum of two persons but there is no limit to the number of persons that can form a public company.
A limited company – private or public – is one which the liabilities of its members are limited to the amount of shares uncalled for. An unlimited company – private or public – is one which the liabilities of its members are unlimited. This means that when the company becomes insolvent, members will be held liable for the company’s indebtedness.
A company – private or public – that is limited by guarantee is one which the liability of its members are limited to the amount each of them have undertaken.
Of the trio – limited company, unlimited company and a company limited by guarantee – limited company is the most common because of the minimal risk its members enjoy.
The desire of persons forming a company is to make profits, earn dividends, expand and spread the company’s tentacles to every part of the world. But unfortunately, some persons forming a company fail to take the proper steps required for moving their company forward.
In this article, I shall be discussing steps you can take to build a global company. When you follow these steps, you will be able to position your company for global expansion.
Without much ado, here I go:
1. Incorporate Your company
An unincorporated company is a faceless company that can exist today and disappear tomorrow. Most Nigerians and indeed foreigners will never want to deal with such a company.
To attract patronage, credit facilities as well as loan facilities worldwide, your company must be duly incorporated. In Nigeria, companies are incorporated with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), a Federal government agency under the Federal Ministry of Commerce. You will also register your company’s trademark with the Federal Ministry of Commerce.
To incorporate your company and register your company’s trademark, you need the services of a legal practitioner who is accredited with the CAC. For more details about company incorporation, CLICK HERE
2. Create/Sell Products or Services that are in High Demand Worldwide
Before incorporating your company, you should have taken the decision regarding the object of the company, that is, the nature of the business your company will carry on. Nevertheless, it is advisable that your company deal with products/services that are in high demand worldwide. The higher the demand for your products/services, the more your chances of attracting patronage and profits worldwide.
3. Avoid Falling Foul of the Law
Throughout the life of every company, starting from incorporation to winding up, every company is governed by laws. To incorporate, there are laws to be complied with. After incorporation, there are incorporation matters that the law imposes on companies. For a company to institute action in court, or to be instituted against, there are strict rules that must be followed. To wind up a company, there are strict rules to be complied with.
Again, taxation laws govern company finances and activities. And every company must comply with these laws. Failure to comply with all these laws, may affect the life and fortune of the company.
Now, you may not have to go and study law to know what the law is asking your company to do. Your company only need to employ a legal practitioner (external solicitor) as the company lawyer who will proffer legal advice, elucidate what the law requires, draft company’s legal documents, provide legal support and legal representation in court.
In addition, many companies usually employ legal practitioners as company secretary/legal adviser. Such legal practitioners perform dual roles – they act as company secretary and also act as legal adviser (internal solicitor). As internal solicitors, they can only give legal advice. They cannot draft company’s legal documents and they cannot represent the company in litigation matters (court cases).
A company aspiring to be global must avoid falling foul of the law; must avoid making costly legal mistake that will affect the life and fortune of the company. And the way to avoid all these is to employ a legal practitioner on retainership who will handle ALL the company’s legal issues.
4. Be Honest and Sincere
Honesty, they say, is the best policy. A company wishing to be global must build trust and credibility by being honest and sincere in its transaction with the public. No truly successful company is a fraud and a sham. You cannot establish a business empire with foundations laid upon lies and deceptions.
If your company is manufacturing food or drugs, ensure that your company is approved and given NAFDAC registration number. If you are producing products other than foods and drugs, ensure they meet the standard set by SON. If your company is a marketing company, it should avoid products that are not approved and those that are substandard.
5. Spread Your Tentacles Via Agents
Starting from where your company is running its business, begin to spread your tentacles by contracting agents that will help you push your products/services into the hands of prospects. These agents will represent your company in cities, towns, states and then overseas. Don’t bite more than you can chew. Take it bit by it.
And to protect your company from fraud or deception that may be perpetrated by the agents, it is advisable that the company enter into an agency agreement with them. The agreement could be parol (oral), implied or written. But it is advisable that the agreement be written, as a written agreement is easier to enforce. The agency agreement should be drawn by a legal practitioner.
6. Establish Online Presence
A company cannot fully go global unless it establishes its internet presence. Internet has made it possible for individuals, businesses and companies to be accessible worldwide.
Bill Gates, C.E.O. of Microsoft Corporation has predicted that “If your business in not on the internet, it will soon be out of business.”
How do you establish internet presence? Establishing internet presence is simple and it doesn’t cost you an arm.
The costs of getting your company on the internet are:
a. Domain name registration and web hosting ——— from N7,000; and
b. Website design ——————— from N30,000 upward.
With at least N37,000, your company can be on the internet within 48 hours! And after your website is set up, you only pay at least N7,000 annually as hosting fee, so that your website will not be de-hosted by the webhosting company handling your website hosting.
For details about how your company can own a standard corporate website, CLICK HERE
7. Go Public
As your company continues to expand and spread its tentacles, it will come to a stage when you have to convert it from private limited company to public limited company. When a company becomes a public limited company, it will start selling its shares to the public and will also be listed at the Stock Exchange for its shares to be traded.
The benefit of going public is that the company can easily raise enough capital for expansion by simply issuing and selling its shares to the public. A company wishing to go public needs the services of a legal practitioner to handle the conversion, the listing of the company at the Stock Exchange as well as making arrangement with a reliable Issuing House for the issuance and sale of its shares to the public.
Consultancy
For consultation, enquiry or comment, feel free to contact us. Your welfare and the welfare of your company is the concern of our law firm. Get in touch with us now via the following contact:
C/O SUNDAY ADAJI CHAMBERS,
Top Floor, Alh. Sule Akagwu
Shopping Complex, Opp. Motor Park,
Anyigba, Kogi State, Nigeria.
Phone: 07061016859
Email: adajichamber@gmail.com
Or Better still, you can reach me by filling the following form and submitting your message to me NOW:
SUNDAY ADAJI CHAMBERS 