When you are starting a business, you will need to think about the type of structure that best suits your business needs.
Different business structures
There are four common types of business structures for a business in Australia:
- sole trader
- company
- partnership
- trust
For an incorporated or non profit business, explore the following on the Business Victoria website:
- incorporated association
- incorporated aboriginal association
- co-operative
- social enterprise
Business plan
Your business plan sets out your goals, objectives and strategies for achieving your business goals. It should have a start and end date, define marketing and promotional activities, target market and financials including budget.
A business plan is essential in applying for finance, communicating your goals and strategy to partners and to benchmark your progress. A business plan is a living document, which means it guides your daily decisions and actions.
A way to write your business plan is to follow an online template model. Before you begin, make notes about the following:
- products and services
- what are you selling and who to?
- why?
- competitors
- who is your competition?
- how are you better, stronger, faster or cheaper?
- do you offer better service?
- define your purpose
- why do you want to start a new business?
- what are your personal or career goals?
- what is your SWOT? (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats)
- research your market
- use our stats and data section to get economic information
- use your networks
- use .id the population experts for demographic resources.
Business Victoria has a free business plan template and one page action plan which is a fantastic snapshot of where you are now, your vision for the future, strategies and 3-4 actions to achieve your goals in a certain time frame.