First Steps to starting a business

Making a start.
First steps to starting a business.

GETTING STARTED
You’re excited and confident about your idea for a business, and wish to take it to market successfully. That’s great. Our checklist will help you cover off the things that you should do, and must do to start a business.

First, know your numbers
The amount of money you need to launch depends on how much your set-up costs are, and how much money you need to cover expenses without needing sales. Start by:

Identifying your set-up costs – these can include things like equipment, vehicles, initial stock, marketing material and any costs you pay for, before you even start.
Estimate how much cash you need as a buffer – this is the amount of cash you should have in the bank to operate before sales starts to cover monthly overheads, salaries and drawings.
Conducting a break-even and profit analysis – this will tell you if you’ll generate enough revenue in sales to cover all your costs and profit.

It’s also a good idea to create a cash flow forecast to identify sales and expense fluctuations each month, to predict when you may have too little or too much cash.

MAKE SURE YOU’RE “SET UP”
There are a number of things that you will have to do before you can make a start and open your doors for trading.

Get an Canadian Business Number (BN) A BN is needed for the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). If you are a sole trader then use your own personal BN; nothing more to do. Partnerships, companies and trusts need a separate BN.
Register with CRA so you can conduct tax activities (GST, Payroll filing) online to handle your tax payments easily and efficiently.
Check what licenses or permits you’ll need. The Permits and Licensing section of your Provincial Government can help you find the government licences, permits, approvals, codes of practice, standards and guidelines you need to know depending on your industry.
Review any intellectual property issues Be aware of anything that could get you into trouble later, such as copying another business name by mistake, or their ideas, logo or process that you didn’t realize was protected.

What else do you need?
All businesses are different, but in general it’s important to:

Set up an accounting system so you know what’s happening to your money. Products like QuickBooks, Quicken offer cloud solutions so you can get real time data, and you can integrate them with your Business Account.
Check with your lawyer, Business banker and accountant – they’ll ensure you haven’t missed anything. They’ll also go over your business plan with you so it’s in great shape.
Obtain business insurance – it’s important that your business is covered by the right insurance.
Have a back-up plan.

Once you’ve worked out how much capital you require, it’s time to decide if you’ll need financial assistance. Some typical options small businesses adopt include:

Using supplier finance; order product/materials and negotiate to pay for them later.
Using credit cards for initial purchases.
Accessing Equipment Finance if you need machinery and equipment.
Getting a Business Overdraft or a Business Loan if you’re unsure exactly what your monthly shortfall will be.

MAKE IT EASY TO MAKE AND RECEIVE PAYMENTS
Offer as many ways as possible to get paid or pay. It’s important to make it as convenient as possible not only for customers to pay you, but also for you to pay suppliers. The CFCL Business Adviser can help you plan for your business needs and suggest the right mix of products to make and receive payments be that in-store, on the go or online.

Develop and write a great business plan
It’s important to write down what you aim to achieve in business, and how you will keep your business on track and focused on achieving its goals and objectives. We can help you write your business plan.

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