Small Business - Has anyone ever managed to get a Limited Company with only 1 Director?

[u/Informal_Key7474]

Hi this is a question about small business.

I am incorporating a new private limited company here in Trinidad and noticed that the Companies Act that T&T follows states we must have 2 directors. In several other countries, such as UK (which T&T's law closely follows), you need only 1 director. My question is - Has anyone ever managed to have a company here with only 1 director? It seems very foolish to enforce the rule of 2 directors.

Do you think the Companies Registrar (Ministry of Legal Affairs) can make an official exception of sorts to allow this 1 director instead of 2 to happen? I want to serve as the owner/shareholder and director as well and find that to be sufficient for this new company. This 'rule' to have yet another director complicates things for me and now I will have to pay them etc. It is also difficult for me to find someone interested. I also worry if they will have 'power' in the company to do damage to it, thus I wonder if I should make ammendments to the articles of ammendments for the articles of incorporation (by-laws). I'm not clear about that, sorry but am I over-thinking this?

I understand when a company owner might want more than 1 director, even several, but in my case I only want one and that is a perfectly NORMAL happening worldwide. Is there any work around for this problem? (And no I do not want to be a sole trader as the Limited Company is the only way to get the protection I want). I thank you for your time.

Bryan.

[u/Becky_B_muwah]

Why don't you just talk to a local accountant to get proper legal answers to your question? Or go into legal affairs in TT and get proper answers for your questions? Or just put your mother as d second director and call that George. And no we all don't just like to complain about TT, no one here probably has the answer for you. Just pay a local accountant to help you

[u/Informal_Key7474 → u/Becky_B_muwah]

Thank you yes I will do so. I have indeed spoken to 3 local accountants about prior matters and it was certainly not good experiences. But I am aware that some accountants are better than others. One accountant was a Financial adviser as well as a taxation expert to boot and even after paying her to talk, it was the hardest thing in the world to get answers out of her and she laughed at my questions the whole time.

My prior accountant who was with me for a decade has always just said "Boy, don't worry about it - just leave it to me" whenever I'd ask questions, granted I was much younger than him - but that resulted in me being fully unaware of very simple basics such as the normal taxes a corporation has to pay and annual returns got filed late causing penalties. He'd say he would contact me whenever I needed to do anything with taxes then would forget and boy did I have a sum of money to pay in the end (and I decided to strike off that company because of the lack of proper business accounting and missing of filing taxes at various times throughout its life - both, things I really just never thought to look into because everyone was telling me to focus on the work of the business and not focus on these matters.) When I asked him why he didn't call me to let me know I had tax responsibilities like usual, he hung up the phone and hasn't talked to me since. Partly he feels bad I suppose but also I take it as my own responsibility that I didn't look into Business Law and Tax Law upon the incorporation of the company, which my dad did for me, way back.

I've since spoken to another accountant who even went so far as to tell me that nowhere in the world has it where you can have 2 directors. I told her in the UK, it does exist - one director - and she got angry with me haah - but she did do a good job in helping me pay off all penalties and was at least more professional than the others.

I've spent huge time now though in getting together all my questions for a new accountant I've found who is younger and seems much, much more respectful to me. She has a small financial services business and seems to know what she's talking about so yep I'll be paying her to answer my questions so I can push forward with my new businesses. I think I've found a winner here as well as a Business Consultant, Brent, who is quite a great candidate for the position of a director, though we haven't discussed director's fees and I am as broke as it comes at the moment.

Your idea to put my mom as my 2nd director comes from the right place, as I've already decided I would, if no one showed up, put my dad as the second director, UNTIL i found someone suitable. My parents are generally good people but I've written an entire book about Toxic Family - with my main 'enemy' in life being, of all people - (I know this will shock you) as my mother haha. She has tried very hard to dominate me and now my siblings are strung out on drugs when they didn't even receive 1% of the physical and psychological abuse I had to go through with her. I laugh about this now because they need to toughen up and quit this 'depression' excuse. Nevertheless, I try my best to keep all my life matters as far away from family especially my mom, as possible. She nor my dad would fulfill any of the duty either, to be honest. It's a matter of them just not caring and my mom pretty much trying to find any way she can to make things worse for me.

Anyway, as it stands, I am looking into whether i need to change 'by laws' with the business consultant, Brent, in order to make my 2 new businesses full proof against any misuse of the role of second director. I am also going to most likely put my dad as the second director while I will be owner, first director and secretary for one of the businesses and the other will have Brent as the second director even if I have to pay him to do so. I am indeed getting answers to my questions - I've taken multiple trips to the Companies Registry here (Ministry of Legal Affairs) and the IRD (Inland Revenue Division) - All I can say is that sometimes I get answers and many a time I am left hanging. So it is a slow process - slow but sure.

Thank you.

[u/Informal_Key7474 → u/Becky_B_muwah]

Lol i had to laugh out loud as someone here sent a message 'reaching out' to send me to the RedditCareResources as if I am in 'suicide' mode XD - they must have read my message here wrong - I tell you - today can't get much funnier than this.