New small business venture

My wife and I are seriously looking into a small business idea to boost our income as we are currently single income family, full-time mum & two kids.

We have a venture mapped out but before we do anything, there are a few questions have.

How should we best structure the business?
How do we finance our idea? We have are looking at 20k seed money and have available equity to finance?
Also, working from home, how does this effect things like insurance, tax time?

Is there anything I'm missing that might be impacted?

 

Little information given so impossible to answer your questions

A company with a discretionary trust as shareholder may be appropriate. One director. Carefully consider company constitution and how to set up the trust.

Lend the company money - you or your wife - under written loan agreement. Consider the terms of the loan carefully.

 

Thanks for the reply @Terry_w . This gives me some where to go from.

 

I am certainly no expert on business but make sure you look into the pros and cons of all the options ( i.e. Sole trader, company, company/trust, etc, etc ). Get some specific advice on the advantages and disadvantages of each option.

It ultimately depends on the type and complexity of the business but avoid creating unnecessary cost and administrative burden if it is not necessary for the situation.

 

Might be a good idea to look at sites like business chat and flying solo for some more tips on setting up/marketing etc. Good luck with it!

 

Thanks Tony. Will have a Google re these sites.

 

Also willing to take any recommendations for people in Newcastle to get advice from.

 

If a website is important, domain name availability will largely determine what you name the business.

 

Check out business chat sister site to property chat

Definitely worth speaking to your accountant and run through your plans to paint a picture of your business. Then structure accordingly

 

What sort of business?

 

Didnt know about that site. Blinkers on for PC only

 

Looking at a hiring out equipment with focus on wedding industry.

 

Investing in property is old news and uncool. Business chat is where it's at

 

In that case you should be worried about customer disputes and being sued so best to use a company to limit liability.

 

Thanks @Terry_w

 

Are there any specialised insurance products for business? Suppliers to look at?

 

We have considered this, lucky whois provides suggestions for currently available domains. Makes the whole job easier.

 

It's a bit of a dilemma. Do you spend up on getting advice on setting up structures for a new business that is likely to fail (most new businesses do) or go for the cheapie option? The set up and advice on business structure is likely to eat up the first year's profit on a very small business as described.

Couldn't agree more - avoid all admin costs. Whether it's a mid-size business or a lawn mowing business.

I've seen loads of lawn mowing/coffee shop etc business spend money on admin that was not necessary. eg: Lawn mowing business. Buy thousands of dollars worth of office equipment, new utes, new fancy lawnmowers etc and then discover it's not for them. They should have started with doing the books on the commodore 64 they already had, the clapped out lawnmower they had, the leaf blower they borrowed from their BIL and a UTE they got for $5k.

 

Certainly something to think about.