Simple Business Registration In Kenya

December 8th, 2009 by wham Leave a reply »

Following our call for help, we can finally report on how to register a simple business in Kenya. It is our hope that this post will help demystify business registration in Kenya and make it simpler and more accessible to more people.

How To Register A Sole Proprietorship/Partnership In Kenya
The procedure here is pretty easy and should not cost more than Kshs 900/-. Here is what you need to do:

  1. Pick out a business name that you wish to register. Write a simple letter addressed to the “Registrar General”. This letter need only ask the registrar to confirm if your chosen business name is available for registration.
  2. Make your way over to Sheria House, and to the Registrar of Companies within the Sheria House compound.
  3. Go over to counter No 1 and hand in your letter(s). You will need to pay Kshs 100 for every name that you wish to register. This is what is called “business name search”. The process takes three days, max (usually). You will receive a blue receipt.
  4. Three days after handing in your letter, go back to Sheria House and show the attendant your receipt. If your chosen name is available for registration, you will receive a letter from the registrar of companies that, basically, tells you your name search was successful. You will also receive a form, Form BN/2.
  5. What you need to do is fill out Form BN/2 as completely as possible. If you are registering a sole proprietorship, the part where it says “Particulars of proprietor or partners” will bear only one name, otherwise you can put in up to 20 partners (for a partnership).
  6. Go back to Sheria House and hand in your completed Form BN/2. You will need to pay Kshs 800/-. After a week or so, you will have to go back to Sheria House to collect your business registration certificate. Congratulations, you shall then have registered a new business!

We hope that someone, somewhere, finds this article useful. We shall publish one on limited companies shortly.

The map below shows the location of Sheria House in Nairobi. You can also use this link to view the map.


View Larger Map

Please do note that we have no lawyers on the Like Chapaa team. If any of the above is erroneous, kindly help us correct it. If you live outside of Nairobi and you know what the procedure is like in your town/city, please help us incorporate that information in this post.

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17 comments

  1. kihatto says:

    hey thanks for so such a timely and helpful post.I hope kenyans-youth watachukua hatua this new year and transform their lives through entrepreneurship.keep it up guys.I always come to your site for inspiration.

    • Kelvin says:

      Thank you so much for your comment – it is comments like yours that keep us going. :)

      Is there anything in particular that you would like us to write about? We’d be happy to!

  2. kihatto says:

    Yeah man.Tell Kenyan youths to stop looking for work.There are limitless opportunities out there.Must we look for jobs.?I think getting into the world of self employment is what this country needs.Guess what i have in mind?
    Something that motivates and challenges the youth mentality could be a good pointer.What do you think.

  3. kihatto says:

    i would love to contribute to your blog on topics ranging from internet marketing,seo,sem,ppc, cpa,affiliate marketing and making money .What do i need to do?
    kihatto

  4. bert says:

    Quite nice stuff here guys,i think am falling in love with the work you are doing.Can i copy this info to my website http://www.bertandrich.com and thus spread the word?

  5. joshua says:

    Thanks very much i have been wondering how i can register my new business but you have given me the answer

  6. kiptoo says:

    A nice job guys the youth of this country deserve a better life

  7. Hillary N says:

    Thanks for the time timely article. i find it helpful though i have another question and would appreciate help. HOW CAN YOU START AND REGITER A MAGAZINE/NEQWSPAPER IN KENYA? Thanks.

  8. Esther says:

    Thanks for the article, it has really helped.

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