Whether you’ve just had that “eureka” moment or you’re already somewhere down the path you’ve not travelled before, it’s worth getting some good advice.
We’ve clients come to us with “a mate of mine down at the pub said they had some advice and that I should…but I’ve now received this notice and need your help…”. Something along those lines might sound familiar to some.
With the growing number of very clever people out there with the experience of starting up a business, such advice might be and seem great as it costs you nothing (or perhaps a cup of coffee). But it’s also worth doing your own research and making sure nothing’s been missed.
But what’s it going to cost?
Here’s the good bit – to start with it might cost you nothing.
Every good business start-up needs a plan and what better way to start than to do some research using some of the free tools available. Try a few of these for starters.
Publicly available information on starting a business.
The Australian Government provides is a valuable source for familiarising yourself with where you might like to start in their guide to starting a business.
The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (also Australian Government) provides additional guidance in their pages:
The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) also has a guide:
Xero (accounting software provider) provides a guide with a number of “How to” sections, set out in an easy-to-read/scroll format:
There are others you can find, and it’s worth comparing them to note the key themes that emerge, particularly relating to a having Business Plan.
Is it all that cheap and easy?
While not all advice is free, there are places you can start to give you the confidence about where you are heading.
At some stage it will be worth engaging an experienced team of support advisors who can help you drive your brilliant ideas forward, but remember that it is your idea, your business and your success so it’s worth becoming familiar with what you’ll need to do.
It might seem daunting to start with, but we have found the good businesses to be the ones where the owners have done some early research and planning. Once you’ve done your own reading you might start to feel more like the business owner.
Once you’ve done your reading and you find you’ve still got questions, remember your Fairway team is there as a sounding-board to help.
