Trading as a sole proprietor
If you trade as a sole proprietor your business name will be your name and surname. You can however decide to trade with another name. It might, for example, be Frankie Figs t/a The Corner Shop.
Trading as a company
If you decide to incorporate a company you will have to choose a company name. This company name needs to be reserved with CIPC to be used as your company name upon incorporation. You should try to have at least three options for a name as CIPC may not approve your first choice due to a similar name already in existence.
Legal name vs Trading name
This is the legal name representing your business and for a private company, it is depicted as (Pty) Ltd. This should always be included in your formal and legal documents. Your trading names or “trading as” is what you call your business or your brand. I may or may not be the same as your legal name.
Choosing a name for your company
This is up to you. Your name can be in any of the 11 languages but best to avoid confrontational and foul language. Read our article on developing a name HERE.
Use nomad.cloud to register your company or reserve a name HERE.
