Case study with setting up a (sole trader) business 

Set up your business 

You can be a sole trader just under your own name and tax file number… simply by getting an ABN (Australian Business Number). 

You do that via ASIC here: https://www.abr.gov.au/business-super-funds-charities/applying-abn 

You probably want to register a business name first. https://www.service.nsw.gov.au/transaction/register-business-name 

The cost of registering your business name with the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) is $37 for 1 year or $87 for 3 years. 

Search here if you’ve got some ideas, to make sure the name isn’t already taken: www.asic.gov.au. (and as mentioned below check domain name availability too) 

Make sure you go “to the source” for business registration services… ie ASIC. There are companies around that might come up in a Google search… and they basically register the name for you… and take a fee on the way through. It’s cheaper and safer directly to go to the source. 

You can tell from their web addresses whether they’re official government sites or not. (Look for .gov.au on the end) 

Similarly there are similar “agent” companies that in a year or so will send out “renewal” letters that look official… but they’re actually offering to re-register the name on your behalf… and again… they take a fee for doing nothing much. 

So… you’ve registered your business name. 

Registering your business and tax related issues 

Next step is to get an ABN, which will be linked to your name and personal tax file number… as well as your new business name. So for instance I’m a sole trader, Mary Smith… “trading as” Rentabike or Real Melbourne Bike Tours, which are names I have registered. 

Please refer to an accountant to assist you with setting up your tax. 

Once you’ve got your business name and ABN you’re a business and sole trader! You only have to do your tax at the end of the financial year like individuals… and you’re in business! Put your ABN on any invoices you send out… and you’re away. I’ll attach an example of one of my invoices. I just create them in Word or Pages on the Mac and mail them out as an attachment to clients. (Create a template and just change the details and save a copy for each new invoice as you go. ) There are more complicated options via Quickbooks etc. that tie everything in to accounting software… but for me, sending out less than 20 invoices at the end of each month… manual invoices have worked fine for 20 years. 

Building your website presence 

You might then like to set up a domain so you get a professional-looking email address and the potential for a website. I use GoDaddy. They’re American but big and cheap and professional, and don’t have much “down time” (when your website and mail are offline due to technical problems.) 

They have very helpful help desk people available 24/7 in America via an Australian 1800 number. I used them a lot when my old provider shut down and I had to move my email and website somewhere. They were very good on the phone support.

They have a very easy web builder site if you want to do your own simple site. I’ve built two sites with them and found it pretty easy. You can check them out at www. rentabike.net.au and www.melbournebybike.com 

I’m pretty sure you can have a play with the website builder for free if you want to see how it works at https://au.godaddy.com 

When you register a domain with them you get one email included for the price. You can add other email addresses fairly cheaply down the track if you end up with staff etc. 

In the meantime you can make yourself look bigger than you are by using “aliases”. So you create “alias” emails like bookings@rentabike.net.au or accounts@rentabike.net.au or hire@ rentabike.net.au and you point them back to your primary email). Any mail that gets sent to those other addresses will be instantly “forwarded” and just pop up automatically into your main email account without you having to check in different places or do anything. 

When you’re thinking of a business name it’s a good idea to check that it’s available not only as a business name, but as a domain name. It’s not much good registering a name if the domain is already taken. For instance with Rentabike… I checked for rentabike.com.au. That was already taken by a motorbike hire company so I was able to get rentabike.net.au and that has worked fine for me. For the small amount of money involved some people register .com and .net and .com.au for instance just to stop someone using that similar name down the track… but it’s not a huge problem if you don’t control the whole lot… unless maybe you’re Pepsi or something. 

I quite like having an .au Australian domain… but there’s nothing to stop you going for .com instead of .com.au... especially if you’re dealing with worldwide clients. 

If you’re just operating in Australia .au is fine. It’s just a matter of personal preference. 

Check domain name availability here: https://au.godaddy.com 

You don’t have to go with GoDaddy. There are many companies that can register domain names. Basically you pay them an annual fee and they register the domain name on your behalf with the international system. That doesn’t cost much. Maybe as little as $16 a year. 

Then if you want to actually use the domain for a website and/or email you pay extra for those “hosting” services. Ask some business friends who they use and get a second and third opinion on which company they use and why, and how much it costs. 

As a comparison GoDaddy charge between $6 a month and $19 per month depending on what kind of email you want… so allow say $240 a year for Microsoft 360 email maximum. There are cheaper options, and they probably work ok… but Microsoft 360 is supposedly a bit more secure and reliable… and there’s more support offered if you ever have any problems. 

At the real budget end you can just register a business name and ABN and use gmail… for instance I could be rentabike@gmail.com but having your own domain name looks more professional and is probably a bit more secure for clients etc. 

They’ll charge about $25 per month for website hosting… so $300 per year. So the all-up cost of mail and web hosting and domain registration should be $400-$500. 

Other things to consider 

You might like to investigate the cost of professional indemnity and other insurance too. I pay about $3000 a year for public liability insurance as a tour operator, which gives me about $20 million cover. Lots of comparison sites online. For that sort of insurance you usually go through an insurance “broker” who hunts around for the most competitive quote to suit your circumstances and takes a brokerage fee on the way through. Worth considering for peace of mind. Ask others running similar businesses what cover they have and who they use. 

Final tip: https://www.expresscards.com.au/business-cards/. These guys will do 1000 business cards, ordered online and delivered to your door for $67. They do all my printing.