Where to start if I want to start a small business

[PuppyB]

This is my first post here. I am thinking to start a small business for selling some stuff. Can anybody tell me where to start? Do I get some benefits for opening a small business, or if not, just casually sell online?

Thanks in advance.

[ali123]

ooh i'm interested in this too, thx for asking the question :)

[PuppyB]

So can anybody provide some tips? Really appreciated.

[emoci]

Idea
What do you plan on doing?

Research
-See if there are other people out there doing something similar?
-What will it cost you to get material (get up running)?
-What can you charge, will it be profitable?
-Remeber to leave a good margin for unsuspected expenses at first when calculating things?
-Do you have volume enough that warrants a business registration, or will selling a few items privately on eBay do the trick?

Get Set Up
-How are going to provide your services?
-Physical set up?
-Online Set up? (This may help http://mashable.com/2007/08/09/online-business/)
-For online set up, check Domain, WebHosting, WebDesign, PayMent Processing Gateways?
-Also look into advertising, SEO (search engine optimization), possible website monetization?

Try it out
-Does it work, can you bring in sales?

Small Business Registration
(Applicable to Canada Federally, Ontario Provincially)

So gotta make This Decisions

1. What type of business: Sole, Partnership, Corp, Association (Sole Proprietor is the simplest).

About Types of Businesses: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tax/business/topics/bn/before/type/menu-e.html

2. Will you need to charge GST (expect 30 000+ a year), or will you be making start-up purchases for which you may want to claim the GST back.

About GST/HST: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tax/business/topics/bn/needone/gst/menu-e.html

3. Will you register a business name (or in the case of sole proprietorship you can use your own name).

About Name: http://www.canadabusiness.ca/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=CBSC_ON/display&c=Regs&cid=1085667966100&lang=en

4. Will you need to charge RST (PST & RST are the same thing)

About RST/PST: http://www.rev.gov.on.ca/english/resources/smallbusiness/register_rst.html


Now the Registration Proccess:
--The costs I've mentioned below apply to Sole Proprietorship, other registration forms will require other spending, in some cases you may want to involve an expert when going for Partnership/Corporate Registrations--

Go to http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tax/business/topics/bn/menu-e.html
BN registration (no cost)
GST/HST if you choose to (no cost)
Import/Export (no cost)
--Everything below can also be registered from http://www.cbs.gov.on.ca/obc/ --
Bussiness name (Same as your name at no cost, other name: $60)
This name registration is with the Ontario government, and lets you operate under that name, but guarantees no exclusive rights over that name.
Vendor Permit-RST/PST (no cost)
You can also do this later, not as part of the application from
http://www.rev.gov.on.ca/english/resources/smallbusiness/register_rst.html
or
http://www.cbs.gov.on.ca/obc/english/html/EnglishRegAppOct2005.htm


For a Good Reading

All about Federal registration, BN, GST-HST, remittance, input credits etc read everything under the Business column on this page: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/menu-e.html

About Ontario Bussiness services:

http://www.rev.gov.on.ca/english/resources/smallbusiness/
http://www.gov.on.ca/ont/portal/!ut/p/.cmd/cs/.ce/7_0_A/.s/7_0_252/_s.7_0_A/7_0_252/_l/en?docid=STEL01_033449
http://www.cbs.gov.on.ca/mcbs/english/starting_business.htm
http://www.cbs.gov.on.ca/obc

General Links
http://www.canadabusiness.ca
http://cobsc.org/en/index.cfm

That's a lot of reading, but it's not as bad as it seems :)

Benefits of Small Business Registration
That is why you need to research the rules in your own area. Assuming you are from Ontario, not Quebec, then there are certainly alot of advantage being in business for yourself. Tax advantage. Check out your local chamber of commerce.

Once you've done the basic gathering of info, then you can have some specific questions - which could be the one that are not readily available from the library or resource centers across the country. These are the ones that the "business owners" amongst us could help you with.

But throwing a general question like that in a forum will not likely give you alot of answers.

My 2 cents

1. Don't expect people to hand you things over, research everything yourself.
2. An actual business registration is just more work, you won't neccessarily see its benefits unless you are bringing in some fair amounts of profit.
3. You may want to register your business (sole or corporate) if you plan on dealing with wholesalers, suppliers etc, as most of them will not deal with individuals
4. There is no HARD COPY CHECKLIST TO FOLLOW TO START A BUSINESS, IT WORKS ON A CASE BY CASE BASIS
5. Although not impossible, IT'S HARD TO START WITHOUT SOME UPFRONT MONEY
6. THERE IS NO SUCH THING WHERE YOU SIT AT HOME DOING NOTHING AND MONEY COMES IN

[PuppyB]

emoci, just want to thank you for the info....

[MTLean]

put together a nice business plan :)
this is always the first step to any successful businesses

[imie]

You can actually find alot of references and checklist at your local small business office/ government office.

check this out.

http://sbinfocanada.about.com/od/startup/Starting_a_Small_Business.htm

[Bincent]

Also take a look here:
http://www.enterprisetoronto.com/index.cfm

[PuppyB]

Thank you guys so much~~~~:)

[deep]

put together a nice business plan :)
this is always the first step to any successful businesses
I'm going to save this space to post some info from my own experience (have owned a couple of small businesses) but for the time being, I'd just like to disagree vehemently with that post. I would say that 95% of small businesses are either too obvious to require a business plan, or are malleable/flexible enough during their founding that any plan is surely to be invalidated immediately.

[van]

This vague question seems to be posted every now and then. If you don't know how to do your own research, depend on people to tell you what to do, then you shouldn't be running a business at all.

And I agree that a business plan isn't nessesary (I stared without one), but for certain types of startups the research involved may help if you are unsure of viability.

[PuppyB]

Since last year I was causually selling some stuff online (not ebay), @ certain swap swop website. Since I see the demand is solid, that is why I am thinking to set up myself small business, but I need to know what is the benefit to set up a business, any pro or con.....

This vague question seems to be posted every now and then. If you don't know how to do your own research, depend on people to tell you what to do, then you shouldn't be running a business at all.

And I agree that a business plan isn't nessesary (I stared without one), but for certain types of startups the research involved may help if you are unsure of viability.

[imie]

That is why you need to research the rules in your own area. Assuming you are from Ontario, not Quebec, then there are certainly alot of advantage being in business for yourself. Tax advantage. Check out your local chamber of commerce.

Once you've done the basic gathering of info, then you can have some specific questions - which could be the one that are not readily available from the library or resource centers across the country. These are the ones that the "business owners" amongst us could help you with.

But throwing a general question like that in a forum will not likely give you alot of answers.

[Just Confused]

I agree with imie. Do some research, write some things down (sort of like a plan) and then come back here with specific questions. There are some bright people on this forum with lots of experience and answers. (Some flakes too, but they're pretty obvious).

BTW: For van, deep and MTLean I think you're on opposite sides of the same coin. Research and planning is important for anything and we probably do it without thinking. We should write it down. But when we (as entrepreneurs) have an idea, the vison is so clear and obvious to us that we "just know" what to do next. For mere mortals though, sometimes it isn't so clear and they do have to write it down in a business plan. I've done it both ways and both businesses were successful. I'd say it can't hurt and it's probably better than jumping in without thinking through at least some of the avoidable pitfalls.

[PuppyB]

Thanks emoci, imie, Just Confused, van....I never know people here so nice, and that really sheds some lights or hope in my tragic this year (see my historic post back in this summer).

I have saved all the response and link and will read through in detail. Thanks again.

[ullyeus]

I signed up for a course called "where to start if I want to start a small business" a few years ago at a college, was good.

And I am fairly certain that was the name of the course, check out some scools near you.