If you want to make your dream a reality, whether you have been dreaming about an online business, craft soaps or that clothing brand, take the plunge. But, what are the steps to follow if you want to start a new business in British Columbia?
Make sure you are ready to be your own boss
Getting a business off the ground requires a mix of skills and attitudes that not everyone has. First of all, you need a great idea, time and commitment, but you will also need:
- Passion for your idea and the ability to communicate it to others.
- Motivation to develop a plan and to work hard to carry it out.
- Problem-solving skills.
- Multi-tasking skills to handle a hundred details at once, as well as develop and manage your business strategy.
- Self-confidence: trust in your decisions and people skills.
- Flexibility to recognize and adapt to change, opportunities and unforeseen developments.
- Ability to sell yourself and your products or services.
- Persistence to see your idea through.
Develop your business idea
Do some research about the market, your competitors and your target to see if your idea will work and evaluate if you have found a profitable niche. It’s very useful if you also develop your business plan.
Understand and choose the best business structure for you
Small businesses in BC are usually under one of these 3 categories: sole proprietorship, partnership, or an incorporated company. Each structure has different legal and financial implications:
- Sole proprietorship: the owner/operator or self-employed
- Partnership: involving one or more partners
- Incorporated Company: also known as a limited liability company
The BC Government offers some tools you can use to choose the best fit for your business.
Sources of funding
Getting your business up and running is a capital-intensive process. First, you need to figure out how much money you will need to cover the initial costs and then how much revenue your business needs to generate to cover them. Be realistic. If you underestimate your costs and overestimate your revenue – a common mistake of start-up businesses – you will run into problems almost immediately.
For the very first months, you’ll need enough money to cover the start-up costs and the daily operating expenses at least for the first three months.
For the first months, you can ask family and friends, or use your own personal line of credit but, there are external sources you can use:
Choose the right name and reserve it
Besides being one of the most important decisions, choosing the right name for your business it’s also one of the hardest.
As long as you want to use a name that differs from your own personal name, you will need the approval and the register of the BC Registry Services to warrant that your business name doesn’t conflict with a name already being used by a corporation.
You will need to provide a maximum of three names which will be considered in the order provided, only if your first choice cannot be approved.
Once your business name is approved, it’s reserved for 56 days. Be sure to register or incorporate your business before your name reservation expires. If not, you’ll need to submit another name request. Anyone can use the name once the reservation expires. You can find all the resources necessary here.
Register your new business
As we mentioned, once you have your name approved you will need to incorporate your business or register it as a sole proprietorship or general partnership. If that’s your case, you are lucky, is pretty easy to register your business through the OneStop Business Registration Service.
If you want to incorporate your company you will need to file an Incorporation Application with BC Registry Services.
Get licences and permits
Contact your municipality or district to obtain a business licence and to ensure you are meeting land use and zoning bylaws. See “Municipalities” on www.bcbusinessregistry.ca
Our business advisors can help you through all this process, contact us! We are here to help you.
