Business Feature
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Starting a business is the beginning of an exciting, and sometimes challenging, period in your life. Suddenly you find yourself immersed in a whole new world of licensing, insurance, marketing and leasing; it’s easy to feel overwhelmed.
Going into business for yourself for the first time will change your lifestyle, professionally and personally, and can involve a significant financial commitment.
An important part of running a small business is understanding how to set up and manage your finances. You will need to work out whether you can afford to start the business and how much money you will need.
Brian Zahrooni, a chartered accountant from Albury’s Millar and Partners, says it’s not just your start up costs to take into account, it’s also assessing how you will access money to fund future plans also.
“It’s important to look at structure, risk and the capital required and work out a plan going forward that is going to suit the client, the client family and the business nature.
“In addition to helping with the requirements such as tax file numbers, ABN’s and business names a chartered accountant can advise on legal structures designed to protect assets held in personal names from business risks,” said Brian.
Your accountant can also help you prepare a backup plan if the business doesn’t return enough profit in the first few months.
So, are you ready? If you answer yes to all these questions it might be time for the next step!
- Do you have relevant experience in the industry you’re considering entering?
- Do you thrive on challenges?
- Do you have the discipline and motivation to keep going when times are tough?
- Do you enjoy making and being responsible for your own decisions?
- Are you prepared to work long hours including weekends?
- Are you prepared to develop your skills and knowledge in areas that you will need to effectively run your business?
To assess your business idea you’ll need to undertake market research. This could involve researching information on the industry, undertaking competitor analysis and surveying potential customers. Determine the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT analysis) of your business idea.
Analyse your market research with an open and unbiased mind. If your research shows that a proposed business venture has a high probability of failure it might need a rethink.
Handy links
www.service.nsw.gov.au (search start new business).