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Get the checklist for this guide as a PDF or Word document.

Get the checklist for this guide as a PDF or Word document.

1. Before you start

Find out what you need to check, decide and do before you start a business.

Check if you’re ready

Starting a business takes a lot of hard work and commitment.

You need business skills, a solid idea and funding to get started. But you’ll also need resilience and discipline to keep going when things get tough. And despite your best efforts, there’s a chance your business might not succeed.

There are plenty of places to get help. But before you start a business, it’s important that you’re financially and emotionally ready.

Learn more

Checklist

  • Get the skills you need to run a business
  • Research your business idea
  • Understand how running a business could affect your lifestyle
  • Know where to get help and advice

Decide if it’s a business or a hobby

You need to know if what you’re doing is a business or a hobby.

A business is usually something you do to try and make a profit. A hobby is something you do for fun, although you might sell your work to cover your costs.

There’s no one thing that determines if you have a business or a hobby. You need to consider several different factors.

Businesses and hobbies have very different obligations for:

  • tax
  • insurance
  • licenses and permits
  • record keeping
  • reporting.

Learn more

Checklist

  • Determine if you have a business or a hobby

Work out if you’re a contractor or employee

If you provide services to another business, you need to know if you’re an employee or an independent contractor.

Working this out can be tricky. But generally:

  • A contractor is their own boss and can work for more than one client at a time. They often use their own tools and methods to do their work.
  • Employees work in someone else’s business. The employer controls how, where and when they do their work.

Employees and contractors have different rights and responsibilities for insurance, tax and superannuation.

Sometimes businesses will treat an employee as a contractor to avoid their responsibilities. This is called sham contracting and is illegal.

Learn more

Checklist

  • Know whether you’re an employee or a contractor
  • Understand what sham contracting is

What to do if you’re not a citizen or permanent resident

If you’re not an Australian citizen or permanent resident, you’ll need a visa to run a business.

Not all types of visa let you run a business in Australia.

Learn more

Checklist

  • Get a visa that lets you run a business in Australia

What to do if you’re under 18

You don’t need to be an adult to run a business in Australia.

But there are a few extra things to consider if you’re under 18 years old. These include restrictions on when and how much you’re allowed to work.

Learn more

Checklist

  • Understand when and how many hours you’re legally allowed to work in your state or territory
  • Make sure any employees complete a working with children check (or the equivalent in your state or territory)

2. Define your business

Make some key decisions about your business, including its structure, name and location.

Decide on a business structure

Before you start your business, you’ll need to decide its legal structure.

The structure you choose affects which registrations you’ll need and your legal and tax obligations.

Common business structures are:

  • sole trader
  • company
  • partnership
  • trust.

Get help from a business adviser if you’re not sure which structure is right for you.

Learn more

Checklist

  • Get professional advice if you need it
  • Choose your business structure

Choose a business name

A good business name helps you create a strong brand.

A unique and catchy name is easy for customers to remember. It helps them recommend your business to others and find it online.

You need to register a business name if it’s different to your own name.

Learn more

Checklist

  • Choose an available business name

Choose a location

The success of your business can depend on the space you use and where it is.

Any space has its advantages and disadvantages. The one that’s right for you depends on what your business needs.

Small businesses often lease property instead of buying it. Leasing has lower upfront costs and greater flexibility. Whichever option you choose, get legal advice before you sign a contract.

If you’re running a business from home, you still need to consider licences, permits, tax and insurance.

Learn more

Checklist

  • Work out what you need for your business location
  • Decide whether to lease or buy
  • Choose a location
  • Get legal advice before signing a contract
  • Understand your legal, tax and insurance obligations if you’re running a business from home

3. Plan your business

Find out what to research and plan to give your business the best chance of success.

Research your market

Market research helps you understand your customers and the competitors in your industry. It can also help you understand if your product or service is likely to be successful.

Some ways to research your market:

  • Use publicly available data to find out more about your industry and local area
  • Analyse your competitors’ websites, social media, online reviews and other marketing materials
  • Talk to potential customers to understand what they need and the demand for your product or service

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Checklist

  • Understand what customers need from your business
  • Know who your main competitors are and their strengths and weaknesses
  • Confirm there is a market for your product or service

Develop your business plan

A business plan sets your new business up for success. It helps you:

  • focus on your business goals and objectives
  • control your business’s direction
  • get finance from banks and investors.

It takes time, research and careful preparation to develop an effective business plan.

Use our business plan template or tool or to get started. You can also get help from a business adviser if you need it.

Learn more

Checklist

  • Decide who your business plan is for and how you’re going to use it
  • Prepare your financial information
  • Create your business plan

Plan how to manage risks

Analysing the main risks to your business helps you manage them successfully.

Risks are more than just health and safety hazards. For example, your business could be impacted by an economic recession, legal issues or the loss of a major customer.

It’s important to take an honest look at the risks to your business and how they could impact you. Then make a plan to eliminate or minimise each one.

Learn more

Checklist

  • Identify the main risks to your business
  • Work out how likely each risk is and what the consequence would be
  • Make a plan to treat each risk
  • Create policies, procedures and standards to manage your risks

4. Register your business

Your business will need registrations, licenses and permits. These help you follow the law, meet your tax obligations and protect your brand.

Get an ABN

Most businesses need an Australian Business Number (ABN).

An ABN is a unique number that identifies your business to the government, other businesses and the public.

It is free to register for an ABN.

Learn more

Checklist

  • Work out if you need and are entitled to an ABN
  • Apply for an ABN

Register your business name

A business name is the name you trade under and use to promote yourself.

A unique, catchy business name is easy for customers to remember. This helps them recommend your business to others and search for it online.

You need to register your business name if it is different to your own name.

You can’t use a business name that someone else has registered.

Learn more

Checklist

  • Choose a business name
  • Register your business name if it is different to your own name

Protect your brand with a trade mark

You can register a trade mark for your business name, logo, tagline or other parts of your brand.

That means no one else in Australia can use your trade mark for similar goods or services.

Some things can’t be trade marked, like common words, surnames and place names.

Learn more

Checklist

  • Decide what to trade mark
  • Check if your trade marks are available
  • Apply for trade marks

Register a company

If you’ve chosen to structure your business as a company, you need to register the company’s details.

When you register your company, you’ll be issued with an Australian Company Number (ACN). This is different to an ABN.

You also need to apply for a director ID to be a director of a company.

Learn more

Checklist

  • Apply for a director ID (if you don’t already have one)
  • Register your company

Register for taxes

All businesses need a tax file number.

Other tax registrations depend on things like:

  • your business structure
  • the products or services you sell
  • your yearly turnover
  • your state or territory
  • whether you employ people.

There are federal as well as state or territory taxes.

Learn more

Checklist

  • Work out the tax registrations you need
  • Register for all of them

Get the right licences and permits

You need licences, permits or other approvals for some business activities.

The approvals you need will depend on your:

  • business type and activities
  • state or territory
  • local government area.

The Australian Business Licence and Information Service (ABLIS) helps you find the licences and permits you need.

If you’re still not sure, you can talk to your industry association or a business adviser.

Learn more

Checklist

  • Apply for the licences, permits and approvals your business needs

Get a domain name

A domain name is the address used for your website and business email address. For example, our domain name is business.gov.au.

A good domain name represents your business and is easy for people to remember.

It’s a good idea to register a domain now, even if you’re not ready for a website. It means you’ll have the domain name you want when you’re ready to use it.

Learn more

Checklist

  • Pick a domain name that represents your business
  • Check it is available
  • Register your domain name

5. Organise your finances

Set yourself up for success by organising your accounts, budgets and financial systems.

Calculate your start-up costs

Your start-up costs are everything you need to pay before your business starts generating income. Understanding these costs will help you get funding and build a successful business.

You might be able to reduce your start-up costs by leasing vehicles or equipment instead of buying them.

Use our start-up costs template to calculate your initial costs. You should check these costs with your accountant or other financial professional.

Learn more

Checklist

  • Decide whether to lease or buy any equipment
  • Calculate your start-up costs, including running costs for the first 6 months
  • Check your costs with an accountant or other financial professional

Get funding to start your business

You may need money to start a new business or buy an existing business.

Debt and equity finance are the 2 main types of funding available. Both have advantages and disadvantages, so it’s important to understand which one is right for you.

Learn more

Checklist

  • Apply for funding if you need it

Set up your finances

You need to set up the right tools and processes to manage your business finances.

Some of the things you’ll need to do:

  • Create a budget to track your financial health and decide how to spend money.
  • Set up a business bank account.
  • Choose which payment methods you’ll accept. For example, credit cards, cash or online payment platforms like PayPal.
  • Decide on an accounting method – either cash or accrual accounting.
  • Set up a process for keeping records. This includes choosing a good bookkeeping system.

It’s a good idea to get help with your business finances from an accountant or financial professional.

Learn more

Checklist

  • Create a budget
  • Set up a business bank account
  • Choose which payment methods you’ll accept
  • Choose an accounting method and bookkeeping system
  • Know how to keep business records

Forecast your cash flow

Cash flow means all the money coming in and out of your business. To keep your business healthy, you need enough money coming in to cover your debts and expenses.

Use our cash flow statement template to estimate your income and expenses. This will help you identify possible cash shortages and work out how to prevent them.

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Checklist

  • Set up a cash flow statement to forecast your cash flow
  • Make sure you’ll have enough income to cover your expenses and debts

Understand tax

Your business needs to lodge a tax return with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) each year. The type of tax return depends on your business structure.

Most businesses also need to lodge business activity statements (BAS). You use your BAS to report and pay taxes like:

  • goods and services tax (GST)
  • pay as you go (PAYG) withholding, tax you take out from your workers’ pay
  • fringe benefits tax, a tax you pay on extra benefits for your employees.

You might also need to lodge other reports or returns, depending on the taxes your business has to pay.

You can pay a financial professional to prepare and lodge your taxes for you.

Learn more

Checklist

  • Know which taxes you need to pay and when to pay them
  • Understand what expenses you can claim as tax deductions
  • Plan to put money aside for taxes

6. Get customers

Every business needs customers to be successful. Find out how to promote your business and connect with customers.

Market your business

Marketing means the activities you do to promote your business and sell your products or services.

The first step in marketing is identifying your target market – the people you want to sell to. You also need to understand the laws around marketing.

Create a marketing plan explaining how you’ll promote your business to these customers. You can use our marketing plan template to get started.

Learn more

Checklist

  • Identify and segment your target customers
  • Develop a marketing plan
  • Understand the legal rules for marketing

Create a website

A website lets customers easily find you, learn about your products or services and buy from you directly.

You’ll need a domain name to set up a website. You’ll also need to choose a hosting service and a content management system (CMS) to publish and update your website.

You can use a pre-built template for or pay a professional to create a custom design for your website. Create your website content using simple words, short sentences and images where relevant.

Learn more

Checklist

  • Choose a host, content management system and ecommerce platform (if needed)
  • Design your website
  • Create your website content
  • Test your website and fix any errors
  • Make sure your website is secure
  • Launch your website

Set up your social media presence

Social media is an easy and affordable way to promote your business and connect with customers.

Use your market research to decide which social media platforms will be most effective with your target customers.

If your business has accounts on multiple platforms, you could use a social media management system. These tools let you manage all your channels in one place and see what kinds of posts work best. 

Decide who in your business will look after your social media. Be realistic about the time and resources they have for social media – it’s better to use 1 or 2 platforms well than a lot badly.

Learn more

Checklist

  • Choose which social media platforms to use
  • Work out if you need a social media management system
  • Decide who will manage your social media

Start advertising

Advertising helps you reach customers and encourage them to buy from you.

Digital advertising includes social media ads, search engines, email marketing and ads on websites. Traditional advertising includes TV, radio, print and ads in public places.

When deciding where and how to advertise, it’s important to think about your target audience and the type of advertising they respond to.

You must follow laws and regulations around advertising. This includes making sure your ads don’t say anything false or misleading.

Learn more

Checklist

  • Decide the best types of advertising for your target audience
  • Tailor your ads to that audience
  • Follow the laws for advertising

7. Hire staff

Find out how to hire workers for your business, including the laws you need to follow.

Hire employees

Before hiring an employee, think carefully about the skills your business needs. Also work out what type of employee you need – full-time, part-time, fixed-term or casual.

Once you’re clear on the job description, you can advertise, interview and recruit the right candidate. Make sure you obey equal opportunity and anti-discrimination laws when choosing a candidate.

You must give your employees certain pay rates, leave and other entitlements. You also need to pay superannuation for your staff.

Put the terms and conditions of employment into a contract for your new employee. Most businesses can use our tool to create an employment contract.

Learn more

Checklist

  • Work out your staffing needs
  • Understand your obligations for pay, leave, superannuation and other entitlements
  • Recruit the employees you need
  • Create and sign an employment contract

Hire contractors

Contractors can help with short-term projects, fill skill gaps or give you expert advice.

Understand the differences between employees and contractors – it’s not as simple as whether they have an ABN or send you invoices. This will help you meet your legal obligations and protect your contractor’s workplace rights.

Negotiate a contract that works for both you and the contractor. This should include who owns the rights to any intellectual property (IP).

Learn more

Checklist

  • Make sure the worker is a contractor, not an employee
  • Understand contractor rights and protections
  • Negotiate and sign a contract for the work

Hire apprentices or trainees

Hiring an apprentice or trainee helps your business grow talent and develop a skilled workforce.

Apprentices and trainees get:

  • on-the-job training
  • a formal qualification from a registered training organisation (RTO)
  • lower pay rates than other employees
  • the same employment conditions as other employees.

Your business may qualify for financial support to hire an apprentice or trainee.

Learn more

Checklist

  • Decide if an apprentice or trainee is right for your business
  • Understand your obligations as an employer
  • Find an apprentice or trainee
  • Sign and register a formal learning agreement

8. Protect your business

Protect your new business from legal problems, safety issues, reputational damage and unexpected events.

Set yourself up for long-term success

Once your business is up and running, you need to look after it by:

  • managing risks, which includes getting the right insurance
  • being cyber secure
  • tracking your finances
  • protecting your brand and reputation
  • understanding and following the law
  • ensuring staff members' health and safety
  • preparing for natural disasters and emergencies.

Our guide to protecting your business outlines some ways to keep your business strong and resilient.

Learn more

Checklist

  • Read the guide to protecting your business

Get the checklist for this guide as a PDF or Word document.

Get the checklist for this guide as a PDF or Word document.