Choosing your business structure
Sole proprietor, partnership or limited company: what each one means for you.
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📌What you need to know
- If you trade under any name other than your own surname, you must register that business name with the ORC.
- A sole proprietor is personally liable: if the business cannot pay a debt, your own property can be used to pay it.
- A limited company can own property, sign contracts and borrow in its own name, which banks and big customers often prefer.
- Business-name (sole proprietorship) and partnership registration are open only to Ghanaians; foreign owners use a company.
- You can start as a sole proprietor and incorporate a company later as you grow.
In Ghana: the numbersChecked 14 October 2026
RegistrarOffice of the Registrar of Companies (ORC)
LawCompanies Act, 2019 (Act 992)
Business-name renewalEvery year
⚠️Common mistakes
Trading for years under a shop name that was never registered.
Starting a partnership on a handshake with no written agreement on profits, debts and exit.
Mixing a limited company's money with your own, which weakens the protection the company gives you.
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Tip. Choose the structure for where the business will be in two years, not where it is today.