Have you had the idea to start a small food business for a while? Discover some tips and the questions you need to ask yourself.
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Question:
How to start a small food business?
Answer:
Starting and running your own food service business is hard work and not without risks, but it is also an exciting and satisfying challenge and can give you a good income, provided you are prepared to invest a lot of time and energy into making it successful.
Here are tips for starting a new small food business and the questions you need to ask yourself:
- Write a business plan – this will be your roadmap – this is a document that sets out your objectives, short/long term goals, target market and financial forecasts. You need to make a time frame in which your business goals can be achieved.
- Determine the best business structure for your business – getting this right from the beginning will prevent much work down the track, reduce your tax bill and reduce any risks.
- Do you need to register for GST?
- Will you have employees?
- Perhaps you need to register a business name. Are you going to trademark your business? A trademark protects your business name, logo, and things like slogans so other businesses can’t use them.
- Do you need any licenses eg alcohol licence? This is something your accountant can help you with.
- Meet with an insurance broker to discuss any insurance you may need to protect yourself and your business – do you need public liability insurance WorkCover?
- Open business bank accounts. One for your everyday trading and another for GST, income tax and PAYG withholding.
