I’M STARTING A BUSINESS;
WHAT SHOULD I DO FIRST?

I’m Starting a Business; What Should I Do First?

Steps and Considerations Before Starting a Business

In addition to the legal side of starting a business, there are numerous steps and considerations that you should reflect upon to ensure that starting a business is a fit for you, including:

1. Self-evaluation, this usually starts with ‘why’ you want to start a business.
2. What type of business are you skilled to start?
3. Developing a business plan.
4. What is your unique business idea? What makes your business different than others?
5. What market research have you done? Rivals and competitors?
6. Ask around. Get feedback from friends, family, colleagues, get a fresh perspective to validate your idea and research.
7. Do you have the financial resources to fund your business for an extended time?
8. How will you market your business? What about sales and business development? Developing your services or products? Supporting the growth of your business?
9. Available resources to help you? Lawyer, accountant, mentors, business development, marketing, sales, expertise etc.?
10. Business location?
11. Hiring employees?
12. Other factors? What you know. What you know you don’t know, and what you don’t know that you don’t know.

Legal Insights and Perspective

Getting help from a lawyer. From a legal perspective, you may want to get the legal aspects laid out early, these aspects can include:

1. What type of business structure will you need? A Sole Proprietorship, Partnership, or Incorporation?
2. Have you researched a business name?
3. Business registration.
4. Federal and provincial tax registration.
5. Business license?
6. Accounting assistance.
7. Liability protection.