Starting Your Own Business

Have a great idea for a product or service? That’s exciting! Need help getting your business started? Want some tips on business registration, financing and taxes? Listed below are several great sources of information on these and other business topics available on the Web for free.

The Basics:

• Starting and running a business can be a lot of work. Are you ready to put in the time and effort? Can you handle the risks that go with a business' ups and downs?

• Do some research to find out if there is a market for what you have to offer. Who will your customers be? Where will you sell your product? Who is the competition? What will you offer customers to make them choose your products over someone else’s?

• Think about financing. Where will you get money to set-up your business, create your product, pay staff, build inventory, and do marketing and sales? Can you support yourself while building your new business?

• Learn more about what it takes to set up your business. Among other things, you will need to know important things about federal and provincial licensing, local safety and health regulations, environmental protection rules, liability, employee deductions and labour standards.

• How will you structure your new company? Will it consist of just you as proprietor? Is it a partnership? A franchise? Will you incorporate? Each of these options has advantages and disadvantages, depending on the type of business you choose to run.

Helpful Web Sites:

• Use Starting a Business to find key information about business planning, market research, registration, financing, taxation, hiring and labour standards, importing and exporting, managing and promoting your business, and a lot more!

• While focused on business finance and services, the Business Development Bank of Canada Web site also offers tips on starting a business through its My project: Start a business section.

• Use the How to get money for your business section of the Canadabusiness.ca Web site to locate traditional or alternative resources for financing your small business, plus an extensive directory of Canadian financial providers, information on different types of financing, and tips to help you secure the financing you need.

• How will your business use the Internet? Learn more about starting and running an e-business in a global environment on Industry Canada’s e-biz.enable Web site.

• Valuable information, tools and resources for small and medium-sized businesses are available on Industry Canada’s Small-and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) Direct Web site. Learn more about human resources, sales and marketing, finance, Web 2.0 technologies, innovation, management and business evaluation.