Business startup checklist - influencelegal.com.au

Starting up? influence legal can assist you. Here is a checklist of some key areas to consider with some useful links:

Insurance – Before you start, ensure you have adequate insurance in place to cover key liability including public, products, professional indemnity and mandatory workers compensation.
Business name – Register your business name before you begin to trade. However, registering a business name does not give you any intellectual property rights in the name. For that, you need a trade mark – see below. Make sure your business name will not infringe someone else’s trade mark. We can conduct fixed fee trade mark searches for you.
Domain names – Consider registering your business name and variations, as permitted under domain name registrar rules. As for business names, registering a domain name does not give you any intellectual property rights, and you need to check that you do not infringe another trade mark.
Structure – Sole trader, partnership, trust or company? Here is a useful link.
Company – If you decide on a company, remember to check the personal services income rules. We offer fixed fee company registration and company secretarial support. We also offer a local director and company secretary service.
ABN – Apply for an ABN once you’ve determined that this will be a business not a hobby and have met the requirements for an ABN.
GST – Decide whether you need to register for GST and check the turnover threshold. If you do not register for GST, you are not entitled to charge a GST component and your invoices need to reflect this. Here is a useful link.
Finance – How will you fund the initial business expenses, such as regulatory expenses, insurance, equipment and supplies? Ensure that you have a business plan in place that covers issues including finance, and tax and accounting input.
Records – Set up your systems for accurate records for tax and compliance.
Privacy – Check the thresholds for whether you need a privacy policy and implement your privacy compliance systems.
Employees & consultants – Ensure that you have agreements in place (including protection for your IP and confidential information) and appropriate tax and accounting input, as well as workers compensation insurance.
Trade marks – Only a trade mark registration will protect your brand name. You should apply at the beginning of the process, not after you have already invested years of marketing into a name that turns out to belong to someone else! We can assist you with trade mark applications at reasonable rates, including fixed fees for key steps.