Steps to starting a small business in Perth WA. Perth Small Business WA guide.

Steps to starting a small business in Perth WA, a guide from a Perth small business owner.

Yeah, sure it’s easy, and of course, that title is a little tongue in cheek. It takes a lot of hard work to get a small business off the ground. But, it’s worth ounce of energy and sweat to start your own small business.

When I decided to start my Computer IT consulting small business, I tried hard to find a good start up guide. I couldn’t find any that had all the steps to start a small business. So, I decided to write one. So far, it’s mostly just the bare-bones outline (which is long enough as it is) you see in this article.

I’ll be adding to it every two weeks, and writing more detailed articles on all the steps, so try to stop by and check it out from time to time. Let me know how I’m doing. Shoot off an email to me if I’ve forgotten something or you have questions.

Before you spend so much as a dollar, talk to successful small business owners. Go to the library or get on the internet and research, research, research. The key to starting a small business in Perth WA is networking,
i can’t stress this point enough.
Take some time to make sure small business entrepreneurship is right for you.
There are entrepreneurial groups such as the Perth Small Business meetup http://meetup.com/perth-small-biz where you can speak to people who run and own there Perth small business.

Make a pro and con list of business ownership, and evaluate yourself honestly. How many characteristics do you have in common with successful entrepreneurs? Is your financial position strong enough? Do you have the necessary technical and management skills?

You’re not going to be the perfect entrepreneur. Nobody is. But in order to make yourself the best entrepreneur, learn by your mistakes.

I’m from Perth WA, so the government agencies I’ve mentioned in this guide are Western Australian, but really, it can be used by anyone. All you have to do, if you’re from somewhere other than Perth WA, is find out where you need to find some of the things I’ll talk about. Some of the steps might be slightly different, and you may not have to worry about things like GST for example, but I’m sure you’ll find this discussion helpful all the same.

These steps to starting a small business are in reasonably good order, but you might find yourself varying from it under your particular circumstances. That really isn’t a big deal, as long as you get most of it done. There are some steps you’ll be able to skip as well, but please don’t skip any of the big ones, which I’m sure you’ll pretty much figure out from taking a look at the list.

So, assuming you’ve done your evaluation and you still want to start a small business, take a deep breath, and let’s get started.

1. Conduct a feasibility study of your small business niche. Describe your typical customer, your product and your competitors. Who will your suppliers be? What will you charge for your product? How will you market your product? These are just a few of the questions you need to answer.

2. Write a brief small business plan for your company, using the information you gathered from your feasibility study. This vitally important, often overlooked step needs to include a description of your company, its goals, competitors, market, financial information, and of course, how you intend to meet your goals.

3. Get your financing in place. There are many ways to finance your small business start up, from your own savings to personal credit cards to bank loans. If you need credit, know your small business plan from front to back and maybe even sideways. This could be as simple as a part time casual job to give you some sort of cash flow and initial credit.

4. Decide what kind of structure your small business will have. From a legal standpoint, there are three basic choices, sole trader, partnership and company including limited and proprietary limited, each with advantages and disadvantages. Different structure will give you more room to move in the future.

5. Choose a business name. I think people put to much emphasis on a business name. Keep is simple, easy to spell and discriptive. ie Deltek Technology, Lake Grace Communications, Perth SEO Marketing, Cabling WA, Westcoast IT Consulting. Straight away you can tell what there small business’s are about. You can initially use your full name and register an ABN to start trading. See no 7. To check Australian Business name’s start here http://www.abr.business.gov.au/ and here http://www2.search.asic.gov.au/gns001.html

6. Decide which market you want to target initially. This is a two pronged approach.
Location as in Perth or WA Western Australia. Off line or on online. Off the internet or online on the internet.
If you target customers on the internet in Australia this can give you a huge potential of otherwise untapped market share. My suggestion is start locally ie Perth or Warnbro WA, keep it simple stupid.

7. Contact the Australian Tax Office http://ato.gov.au to register for GST and import/export (if applicable). For business registration contact Department of Commerce in Perth WA www.commerce.wa.gov.au/ you must register for an ABN Australian Business Number https://abr.gov.au/ to start trading even if you trade with your own name initialy.

8. Decide whether you need to collect GST. If you do, you need to submit Registration as a Vendor documents with your state.

9. Determine whether there are special permits or licenses in your city. It’s highly unlikely that your municipality does not have special permits or licenses.

10. Develop the marketing materials you decided on in your small business plan. They should include at least a business identity package, press kit and website (this could be in the form of a free blog site ). Your identity package is your logo, business card and letterhead. A press kit can include letters of introduction, biography sheets, press releases, articles and a brochure. Today with the internet, printed materials aren’t enough. You need a website that looks professional, matches your printed material and has great copy. You’ll also want to make sure it’s optimized for search engines. Don’t forget to hit the online business directory listing’s.

11. Set up your business bank account and record-keeping system. Your banker will need to see your incorporation documents, and you should probably set up more than one account so you can keep track of your finances better. Record-keeping is required, and can be done manually or with a computer program.

12. Purchase insurance. There are many different types of insurance, but most probably your company will need at least one. For example, if you’re going to have employees, you need to contact the Worker’s Compensation Board. Depending on your type of business, you might want to contact them even if you don’t have employees to insure yourself.

13. Bank credit and loans. If your a service business you could get away with having no line of credit, if you
are selling products then you may need unless you get payment upfront from your clients and customers.

14. Decide where your business will be physically located. Lease or share your small business space or run the business from home? There are advantages and disadvantages to starting your business from home. You have tax write-offs for example, but you may not want clients in your house. Solution meet clients at a coffee shop or cafe.

15. Purchase office supplies, IT equipment and Communications. You’ll need too many things to list here, and of course, each business has different needs. You may need a laptop computer, email. You’ll probably need a business card’s. You’ll definitely need paper, pens, pencils and some sort of filling. You’ll definitely
want some sort of mobile internet broadband or adsl so you can harness the internet.

To contact us check out our website Perth Small Business meetup or email Paul p@delfante.it to chat or for more information.

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