Steps To Starting Your Own Business In Australia

So you are all set to start your own business and step out into the world as the next most promising entrepreneur, but are you stranded as to how and where to start? You don’t have to learn from mistakes, you save a lot of time and energy by knowing the basic steps involved in running a business. Here are the some checklists that you need to be aware of to turn your dreams into reality.

1. Research

Investing time into research and planning never hurts your business. You must know the depth before you take a leap. Research your business idea and find out its market viability. You must know your competitors, their products, strategies and reach. You should also be able to assess the financial capacity needed to start and run your business.

Well done research can give you insights on how you can reach your target audience and also the marketing techniques that you can use. You can make use of market reports, published statistics, journals and industry publications.

2. Develop a Business plan

A plan is necessary for any type of activity to be executed properly. A business plan will help you run your business in a goal driven and optimal manner. A plan can include details on your business goals, marketing plans, research information, operations, management plan and financial plan.

Your plan needs to be reviewed and updated regularly.

3. Determine your Business structure

Decide on your business structure that best suits your requirements. This will determine the way your business will operate. Some of the common types of business structures include

• Sole trader : individuals trading on their own
• Partnership: two or more people running a business together without forming it as a company. The risks, profits and losses are all shared by the partners according to the terms of a partnership contract.
• Trust: an entity that works for the benefit of its members or other with the property or the income it holds.
• Company: a legal entity through which the business is run. It is separate from its shareholders. It has more regulatory requirements.

Business structure can be changed in the future depending upon the growth of the company.

4. Naming Your business

Choosing a company name is an important step of your business. You need to consider your competitors, business goals, branding and marketing strategies while naming your business. You should check with the Australian Securities and Investment Commissions, national Names index to find out whether the name you have chosen is already registered or not. Once you have finalized on your business name, you must register it using the proper channels.

You must also take care of the legal obligations while choosing your business name.

5. Register your business

• All companies must be registered under the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). A company registered under the Corporations Act of 2001 is considered to be automatically registered as a company in Australia. Once registered under this act, the company need not register again in separate State and regional jurisdictions.
  
• You should also register your business name with the appropriate authority unless you operate it under your name or your partner’s name. Registering your business name will cost you about $33 AUD for a year. You can perform the registration using the ASIC connect website.
  
• If you want to register your business name as a trademark you make use of the information hosted by IP Australia.
  
• ABN – Applying for this unique number will help you identify your business. Australian business Number (ABN) can be easily obtained via a free application by providing information on your personal details, business information, associate details, business activities and other general information via online.
  
• If you have plans for setting up a website for your business, now is the time to register a domain name for your website. Make sure your domain name is easy to remember and related to your business. Go to the .auDA (Domain administration ltd.) website for getting details on domain name registration.
  
• You should also remember to take care of registrations for GST ( Goods and Services Tax), TFNs (Tax File Numbers), government licenses and permits according to the needs of your business operations.

6. Finance

Get the proper funding and financial arrangements in place to carry out the initial setting up and consequent business operations.

7. Records systems

You must maintain comprehensible and accurate financial records to have a smooth running of your business. Hire professionals to help you with efficient book keeping.

8. Infrastructure

You should start looking for the right premises and start your business operations promptly according to your plan. Here are few things that you need to consider while establishing the required infrastructure.

• Location: Where do you want your business to be located? Near the customer or to suppliers? Do you work from home or from an office space?
• Features: What are the features that you require for your business? Do you plan to obtain the premises by lease or by purchase.
• Security: What is the type and level of security that you will need?

Besides acquiring the office space, you must also start acquiring the other resources required for you to run the business. Staffing, equipment and other infrastructure must be acquired according to the plan and budget.

9. Insurance

Don’t forget to secure the right insurance as a protection for your business. You can consider the following to determine the right type of insurance for your business.

• Fire and other events
• Theft
• Legal liabilities
• Business interruption
• Business vehicle accidents
• Personal insurance.

10. Develop a marketing plan

Delivering your product in the most presentable way is as important as developing the product itself. Marketing plans must be carefully planned and must be able to work around the challenges and make use of the opportunities presented by the current and long term market predictions.

There are a lot of government and private agencies like the ASIC, Business.gov.au, Ausindustry, Grantslink, etc., that would help you on the way to boosting your start-ups.