Registering as a sole proprietor

What a sole proprietor is.

A sole proprietorship is an individual business: one person, trading under their own name. The business is not separate from you: it is simply you. So you keep full control, and you carry its responsibilities personally.

A sole proprietorship is the individual way to register a business: one person, in their own name. A company is the other route. Compare sole proprietor and company →
A sole proprietor at a glance
What it is One person trading in their own name, an individual business
Who is liable The owner, personally, for the business's debts and its actions. There is no separate legal person
Business ID Your business is registered in the business registry and gets its own Business ID
Activities Up to five; for each, a license fee if the activity needs a license
The names Your personal name, plus an optional business name per activity
Licenses A trade or industrial license, depending on each activity
Foreign applicants A business permit is required in addition
What you receive A Business ID and any license your activities require

What you need: a Business ID, your license comes with it

Until now, only some activities needed a license (a trade or an industrial license), and a business whose activities needed none of them did not have to register at all. Today that changes: every business must now have a Business ID, its registration in the national business registry. That includes businesses that already hold a trade or industrial license. They too must now register for a Business ID.

And where your activity needs a license, it comes with the Business ID: when you register, any trade or industrial license your activity requires is delivered to you in the same step, so one registration, in your own name, gives you everything you need to start trading.

01
The entrepreneur

Who the entrepreneur is

Because the owner is the business, the application begins with the person: your identity, your address, and your marital status. This is the heart of the registration: there is no separate company to set up, just you.

Screen: proof of identity
Owner · identity document
Automatic data extraction You upload a clear copy of the owner's ID. The document is validated and the key details are extracted automatically, so much of the next screen fills itself in.
Owner's ID or passport
Upload a clear copyUpload
Screen: the owner
Owner · details, address, marital status
Details of the owner
Title
Mr / Mrs / …
Gender
Select
First name
First name
Surname
Surname
Date of birth
DD / MM / YYYY
Nationality
Select
National ID number
ID number
Personal TIN (if you have one)
TIN
Residential address
Is the address in Lesotho? YesNo
District
Select district
Town
Select town
Village
Village
Street or Chief name
Street / Chief

You also give a phone number and an email. If the address is outside Lesotho, you choose the country instead.

Marital status
Why this is asked If you are married in community of property, your spouse is also liable for the debts of the business. If you are married out of community of property (your property is kept separate), your spouse is not. That is why we ask your marital status and marriage regime, and record your spouse's details when you are married.
02
The business

The business itself

With the person known, you describe the business: its name, the activities it will carry on, and where it operates.

aThe name

When you register as a sole proprietor, your business is registered under your own personal name. You can do business under this name. You may also choose a business name for each activity you register.

1
Your personal name
Your own name. The business is registered under it, and your Business ID and certificates are issued in it. There is no company name and no "(Pty) Ltd" suffix.
2
A business name per activity
For each activity you register, you may choose a business name. It must be unique: you cannot use one already used by another business. You can register up to 5 activities, each with its own business name.
Example
Personal name: Thabo Mokoena
Activity: Bakery
Business name for this activity: Thabo Mokoena Bakery
If Thabo Mokoena also offers accounting services, he registers another activity and can use a different business name for it.
Screen: the business name
Name
What is a business name? A business name is a name you can choose for your business. It must be unique, so you check it is available before it is reserved. You can register one for each activity you do.
Proposed name
Enter the proposed business nameCheck availability
Name availability As you check, the screen tells you straight away whether the name is available, not available, or too similar to an existing name and may need to be changed.
bThe activities

You may register up to five activities. Each activity is checked against the licensing tables: some require a trade license, some an industrial license, and the matching fees are worked out for you. Where a license is needed, you receive it in the same step, not in a separate application.

Screen: select up to five activities
The business · activities & licenses
Licensing fees The licensing fees will show automatically when applicable.
SectorActivityTrading profileLicense & feeTrade name?
Choose a sectorChoose an activityChoose a profileworked out for youoptional
+ Add an activity (up to five)
Trade license or industrial license? You don't decide this. The activity decides it. As you add an activity, the system sorts it into a trade or an industrial activity and applies the right license and fee. An activity that needs no license simply registers under your Business ID.

For each activity you may register a business name, and (depending on the activity) upload supporting documents such as a lease, a health inspection, a food-handler certificate, or a certificate of analysis.

cThe address

Finally, you give the business its location: a registered office, and the place where the business actually operates.

Screen: where the business operates
The business · addresses
Registered office
District
Select district
Town
Select town
Village
Village
Street or Chief name
Street / Chief
Place of business
Is the place of business the same as the registered office? YesNo
+
Additional: for foreign applicants

If you are a foreigner: the business permit

If you are a foreigner, you complete one extra step: a business permit. It asks how your business will be represented and resourced locally, and how it will contribute to Lesotho. If you are not a foreigner, you skip this step.

Screen: the business permit
Business permit · foreign applicants
Local representative
First name
First name
Surname
Surname
Nationality
Select
National ID number
ID number

You also give the representative's local address, phone and email.

Local deposit & staff
Local deposit
AmountLSL
Local staff
0
Foreign staff
0
Local impact
What you explain In short statements you set out how the business will benefit Lesotho:
  • its strategic value to the Lesotho economy;
  • how it will advance businesses owned by Lesotho citizens;
  • the skills and technology transfer planned over the next two years;
  • your corporate social responsibility plan.
✓
The result

What you receive

One registration, made in your own name, produces what you need to trade: your registry record, and any license your activities call for.

The registry record Your Business ID Your business's entry in the OBFC Business Registry, with its certificate.
+
As your activities require Your license(s) A trade or industrial license for any licensable activity you registered.
Foreign applicants only A business permit
✓

A sole proprietorship is the simplest way to be in business: one person, one registration, in your own name. It gives you a Business ID and any license your activities require.

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Grace
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