Owning a business brings multiple perks such as finally being your own boss, picking and choosing your hours and having the luxury of managing and maintaining your own client list, but there’s also the other aspects such as taxes, cashflow, bookkeeping, wages and more to consider. While each situation will be unique to each business, taking the time to create and implement certain plans and structures to appropriately address each aspect could prove valuable for businesses in the early stages.

We’ve compiled a list of key factors below that every new business owner should consider while in the process of setting up their new venture:

 

Business Plan & Budgeting

The purpose of a business plan is to create a direction for your business and to map out how your goals can be achieved. A Business Plan can assist business owners by showing what sufficient capital is required while still in the start-up stage, where cash-flow issues could arise and how the business’ quoting and charging systems factor in any variable or overhead expense of the new venture. Creating the right Business Plan enables new owners to plan their hopes for the business’ future confidently and putting strategies in place to react efficiently if they encounter tough times.

 

Structure & Protection

Seeking advice on how to best structure your business could be a priceless move for new owners. The establishment of a new business often comes with a greater inherent risk, so it is important to ensure your business has ways of mitigating that risk while limiting any potential impacts on you and your families future. It is important to ensure your personal assets are protected, your business is operating in the most tax effective structure and there are no issues with governing bodies with your business structure when setting up your business.

 

For example; Bill the builder, a sole trader producing $100,000 a year of profit, pays tax of about $25,000. Whereas if the structure was different and Bill was able to split his income with his wife, he could have limited their family tax bill to about $15,000. That’s $10,000 in one single year!

 

Marketing

Having the correct marketing strategy for your business is important as the difference between a good and bad strategy could be the driver of its success or failure. A good marketing strategy assesses a business’ target audience and the best ways to reach them, what their point of difference to competitors is and whether the right systems for evaluation, adaptation and implementation of the marketing strategy are in place.

 

Compliance

Compliance is also important for business owners to consider in the process of setting up their business. There are numerous systems available to owners that can be put in place in the infancy so that it’s easier to manage the business from the outset, rather than work back from a point in time. Part of creating a strong business compliance process is determining who is responsible for certain areas of the business and making sure tasks like payroll, invoicing, preparing BAS statements and chasing up new leads are all accounted for from day one of operation.

 

To book an appointment with an accountant to discuss how you can take your leap of faith and start your own business click here