How to Start a Business in Australia from Home: A Step-by-Step Guide

Starting a business in Australia today is a simple process when it comes to administration. However, it’s important to know which steps to take. The best part is that a plethora of businesses can be started from home. This is made possible by the internet, which permits individuals to conduct a wide range of businesses online.

Even some of the biggest companies today were started from home. That includes big software companies, gaming studios, and ecommerce stores. A good example to mention is Microgaming, a game studio that develops Australian online real money pokies, which initially started in 1994. It was a small business where a couple of colleagues sat around a wobbly round table in the Isle of Man; that’s how their CFO at the time described the beginnings. The most important thing to have is an idea; after that, you are only a couple of steps away from starting your business. Let’s explore the key steps that you’ll have to take.

Research Your Business Idea

The first step is to create a list of ideas that you’d like to bring to life. After that, it’s time to research each of them individually and perform market research. This is the most important step because it’s important to pick a viable idea that’s also something that you like doing.

Doing research should include important steps such as:

• Checking any legal hurdles, depending on the business industry
• What is the market size in Australia
• Is the niche saturated?
• What’s the maximal revenue you can achieve?
• Will you focus only on the local or the global market?

Answering all these questions will give you an estimate of whether a particular idea can succeed. Of course, those are only estimates, and only after you’ve started working will you be able to see whether the math behind it all actually works.

Register and Choose a Structure

This is another important step that depends on what kind of business you want to set up and whether you have a partner or an investor. Some of the options that you have at your disposal are:

• Sole Trader - This is the most straightforward business to set up, but you are the only person responsible for the company. So if there’s any kind of violation, you’ll be directly responsible as the owner.
• A partnership - If you’re teaming up with someone, this is the option to go for. You can share the ownership of the company with at least one other partner or more people. It’s easy to set up, but there’s an important thing to keep in mind: you share the responsibility of running a business with other people. Make sure you pick responsible people as your partners.
• A Company - A company is more complex to set up, and it will cost you more to set up and run. A single person or more people can own it. There’s an important advantage it offers: it separates ownership from the business, meaning that liability is perceived differently in legal terms.
• A trust - Setting up a trust is also possible, but this is a really complex form of business and requires an expert right from the start. That means that it will cost even more than running a company.

After you’ve decided what type of business you want to set up, it’s time to see whether your business name is available. You first have to get an ABN and then check whether the name of your business is available with ASIC.

Get Licenses and Permits

Depending on the business you want to run, you’ll need to get permits. This includes businesses that make and sell food. Offering specific services, such as plumbing or electrical work, also requires special permits. You must check local regulations and see what kind of licenses are needed. You want to set up a completely legal entity from the start, to prevent any legal hurdles down the road.

Check local regulations on running a business from home and whether any permits for this are needed.

Another step to take is to get the necessary insurance for your business. It will help cover specific costs if any challenges arise in the meantime.

Set Up Your Home Office

Once all that is settled, see what kind of equipment you’ll need to set up a home office. Also, check the local regulations and see whether you need any permits to set up a home office. If that’s the case, get the permits and follow the local regulations in setting up your home office in terms of safety and other similar rules.

Develop a Marketing Plan

Where are you planning to advertise? This is the most important part because you can’t have customers if nobody knows about you. A good idea is to build a presence on social media, create a blog, and collaborate with local or global influencers.

Set aside a monthly budget and keep investing, as it’s the only way to get your name out there.

Handle Finances and Taxes

Last but not least, have an accountant or some sort of legal advisor at least, who will point you in the right direction when it comes to handling taxes and finance in general. This is vital for the success of your business, as the last thing you want is to miss a tax payment because you were unaware that you should have paid tax.

That explains how to start a business from home in Australia. Take some time for each of these steps so you get everything right. It’s the only way to lay a strong foundation that lets you grow your business without any headaches.