How to Start a Business in PNG; 6 Important Steps 

Starting a business of your own doesn’t require the expertise of brain surgeons or rocket scientists.

Starting your own business requires YOU; your choice of business, your decision, your planning, your reasoning, i.e., your sweat and toil to get it off the ground. Above all, YOU, making an effort to do something about it.

Total reliance on your salary is stressful. Having a side income can help you realize the true meaning of Financial Freedom.

Some people procrastinate. Others fail along the way. If you have, you’re not the first person to experience such challenges.

In fact, some of the successful people in the world, including billionaires have gone through the same. Successful Papua New Guinean too have had their days of procrastination and multiple failures in business.

However, besides the type of business you wish to operate, there are a few factors of the equation you will have to consider.

Factors such as business name registration and Tax Identification Number (TIN).

In this article, we will try to explain how to start a business in PNG; 6 important steps.

Business Types

To own and operate a business of your choosing, first you need to decide the type of business that is.

There are many ideas, resources or skills around you that you can turn them into businesses.

In a diverse country like Papua New Guinea, the opportunities are limitless. You can start with a natural resource in your area, a talent or skill that you have or an market opportunity that you figure out.

Remember that different countries have different laws and regulations governing the type of business that can be established, and Papua New Guinea is no exception.

We have our Business Act, the IPA Act and several other laws that guide our policies on doing business in PNG.

Let us discuss the 6 important steps to go about doing business in PNG.

1. Choosing a Business Name

Choosing a business name is easy and interesting as well. However, your preferred business name must comply with the IPA policies.

You can read about how to choosing an ideal business name for your business.

A business name must be registered for a specific business type. If you have several retail businesses, you can register them as a trading business. For example KUKU TRADING.

Now that you’ve defined your ideal business to own and operate, give it a name. Your business name is your identity, therefore, it should be unique in itself.

How to Start a Business in PNG

How to Start a Business in PNGIn a country as diverse and largely untapped as Papua New Guinea with over 800 different languages, there is no excuse for your business name to be less than unique, or a copy.

A business name must reflect your business type in some ways. For example; KUKU TAXI SERVICE, KUKU SECURITY SERVICE, KUKU LOGISTICS, KUKU FARMERS, KUKU TECH, etc.

If you would like to do several retail businesses under one business name, then choose a trading name such as; KUKU TRADING.

Company names must end with LTD or LIMITED. For example; KUKU LIMITED, KUKU INVESTMENT LTD, etc. You can read about company registration and apply.

The difference between a company and a business is basically; businesses are owned by owners (either as sole owner or co-owned) while companies have directors and shareholders. But with companies, you can have one sole director who can become the sole shareholder and secretary.

You can convert a business into a company anytime.

Register a Business now and get our 3-in-One SME Startup Package. 

2. IPA Registration; Apply Online 

IPA Online Registration

Every aspiring business owner should know how to start a business in PNG – the basic steps, including the registration process.

Once you establish a unique business name, you’re ready to register your business. A registered business represents transparency and legal rights.

Investment Promotion Authority (IPA) is the sole authority for all business registrations, thus, the next thing you do after you give your business a name is register your business at IPA. either through the counter at IPA Haus or through their online platform if you have a Credit Card or Visa Card.

If you do not have any, you can engage us, the hard working team at PNG SME Directory. You do not have to use a Credit Card or Visa Card because, we will take care of this on your behalf. You can pay cash, do direct bank transfer, SMS Banking or Internet Banking.

You can apply online now and start a business.

Apart from the business registration with the same payment of K300, we offer additional free services such as; TIN Registration, Bank Account (SME) opening, free online marketing, etc.

We do the following;

• IPA Business Registration
• IPA Company Registration
• Association Registration
• Business Group Registration
• Business Renewal
• Amendments
• Change of Directorship
• Foreign Enterprise Certification
• Others such as TIN Registration with IRC

We, at PNG SME Directory have helped to register thousands of entities with IPA using our Same Day Service. See our Testimonials Page for stories from our happy clients.

Register a Business now and get our 3-in-One SME Startup Package. 

3. Get your IPA Certificate & Extract 

After receiving your application online application, we will process it immediately.

Usually, it is a Same Day Service and you can expect to receive your IPA Certificate and Extract within hours. That is if there are no missing details including errors and omissions.

However, if there are any discrepancies on the application, we will email or call you up to sort out the issues immediately. You can contact us if you wait longer than a day.

As soon as IPA team completes its review, they’ll email your IPA Certificate and Extract to us. We will forward them to you immediately together with instructions on how to apply for TIN (Tax Identification Number) with IRC (Internal Revenue Commission).

Take note that IPA no longer issues originals these days. Everyone nationwide receives electronic copies of the IPA Certificate and Extract via email or WhatsApp. You can print it on a light-blue A4 paper, laminate it and use it.

4. Obtain TIN Certificate 

After receiving your IPA certificate and Extract, you will receive TIN instructions from us as well. We assist our IPA clients with TIN Registration and Bank Account opening for free as part of the 3-in-One SME Startup Package.

You will submit your TIN Application to us for screening. Our experts will ensure that your application meets requirements and compliances. If there are errors or omissions, we will sort them with you. The final version will be submitted to IRC office.

It must be noted that the Certificate of Compliance (COC) is not required during business registration and also, not all business should obtain COC.

COC (Certificate of Compliance)

5. Get your TIN Certificate

TIN Registration at IRC usually takes less than a week of everything on the application is faultless.

We will provide you with the best instructions on how to retrieve your TIN certificate sooner.

After receiving your TIN certificate, you will need both the TIN Certificate and the IPA documents to open your bank (SME) account with any bank of your choice.

Again, we will send you the best advice on how to open your bank account without being turned back.

6. Open Your Bank (SME) Account

Opening a bank account for your business is straight forward. However, the requirements vary from banks to banks. Some might require a business profile and an opening deposit of K500 while others will not.

We also do professional and appealing business profile services.

However, the main requirements are your IPA documents, TIN certificate and your valid ID.

With the same documents, you can open bank accounts in as many banks as you like.

Final Words

At PNG SME Directory, we’ve taken business registration up a notch – IPA Online Registration.

The difference between us and others including that of IPA is that with us, you do not have to worry about paying using a Visa/Credit Card and also we do free TIN Registration and Bank Account opening for our IPA clients. That’s the 3-in-one SME Package.

Now you can register your business online with us. For only K300, not only will we assist in registering your business, obtaining your TIN, IPA certificate of incorporation – all in short period of timel

We also go the extra mile in offering a free lifetime marketing of your products and services.

Read about our SME Business Startup Packages and apply for IPA Registration.

PNG SME Packages for Businesses

After registering your business, you will have to apply for TIN registration with IRC. We do that for free. Read about how to register for TIN.

After you have your IPA documents and TIN certificate in place, you can now open your business’s bank account with any bank of your choice. We assist our IPA clients to open their bank accounts for free.

The bank will firstly do an IPA search, which usually takes a few days. Then you’ll open your SME account.

When you’re in business, tell your clients to deposit to the bank account because, that will enable you to get your taxes done and eventually get a Certificate of Compliance (COC) from IRC.

In the next post, we discuss on how to grow your business to success including doing effective and proven online marketing strategies for Papua New Guinea context.

We hope this article on ‘How to Start a Business in PNG; 6 Important Steps‘ has helped you in understanding the steps and processes to go about owning your first business.

Contact us for more information on business startup and registration.

Article by; Wordsmith 163

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NOTE:

This article on How to Start a Business in PNG; 6 Important Steps is part of a series of important articles published by PNG SME Directory.

Author: SMEwebs

Digital Marketing Expert, Web Developer & E-Learning Freelancer. 

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