How does one start a business?

KofDelight

KofDelight

New member
Hi guys

Has anyone here ever started their own business?
I need to know the procedures and best way to do it.If anyone can help me please,I need it done ASAP.

I would like help from someone who has been through the process before.

I have gone through multiple sites on how to start one up and there are different places to register a business.I want to know the best places.

I need to get my business off the ground.

PS.It is an IT business
 
And now your talking my language. You are asking something that is actually quite complicated, and you have to be very careful and make sure your planning is 100% in line. This is key.

Start with your business plan. Your business plan will become the foundation of your start-up. This is not a document that you have to take likely, and will require extensive research and constant development to ensure its validity. Your business plan will also assist in getting finance for your start-up.

This is not a quick process. I'm talking of about 2-6 months depending on the type, size and financial capacity of the business.

Don't Google "How to start a business". You're not going to find what you are looking for. Rather look for each element you need, eg. Business Plan, SME financing, Labour Laws, Competitors to your chosen Market, stuff like that. You'll find much more focused info particular to your venture

Also, get yourself a partner. even if it's a silent partner, or just a consultant, but someone with the knowledge or financial backing you need. A partner can be a valuable asset.

Also, and this may seem counter intuitive, but find out why SME's fail. From their failures you will be able to find answers to questions you didn't even know you had. Find out what are the most common mistakes SME's and start-ups do and mitigate that.

But these are a few point. Hope they help.
 
Hi There,

What is it that you want to do in your business bud? Sales, websites...

It will depend how you start.

First things first:

1) Do want want a Sole proprietor or a Pty(ltd) cc do not exists anymore - These companies you buy of the shelf. Google. The company must then be reg in your type of business.
2) Now you need to register for PAYE and Vat(if you plan on more than I think it is R300,000 turnover per year(not sure check the sars website)
3)after that your Skill levies etc.
4) then you can start trading. Find out what the requirements are for your industry and adhere to them: ie: Occupancy certificates, levies, saftey etc
 
Wow you sound like you know a lot about business.

The main product of the business is software design.Won't I need to register the software?and will it be more complicated?
There are already buyers for the software but I want to make sure the software idea is not stolen.
 

Man that's a lot and I am pressed for time,this business opportunity happened so quickly.Now I feel I'm in a rush,I don't want to mess it up.Yet there is pressure coming from the buyer.
 
http://www.registercompany.co.za/

Have a gander here for a bit of info and what documents you need. It is important to register your company then as quickly as possible, but please do not forget about the Business Plan. So many entrepreneurs have failed by jumping the gun and not doing the ground work and planning everything. It comes to a mitigating risk, having contingency plan, thinking about the softer side of the business like marketing, pricing, competitor tracking, supply-demand, growth, the break-even point, financing and budgeting.
 
I'm not going to ask what kind of software it is (for obvious reasons), but if it's something nobody else has done you could try taking out a patent on it. I'm not sure how patents regarding intangible wares like software works, though.
 
Well apparently you can't really patent certain parts of a software,depends in what OS and program you used to develop it,then you have to pay royalties I think.
 
MalicE said:
to pay your salary while you get the business up and running :D
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Yep... It is hell to start off with nothing.

Also, marketing. Google Adwords does it for us. Although, if your concept is quite unique in that the market doesn't realise that they need it yet, that could hamper your growth initially. It happened to us initially and although we had no competition at the time, we had a bunch of other issues. It does sound like you have a client to start off with so that already helps.

As for protecting the software idea, I'm not sure there is really a way to protect it. Even with patents, as far as I know, they can make a very small change to that same idea to get around it as patents are very specific. I'm speaking under correction... I've looked into this years ago so everything is kinda fuzzy. Depending on the type of software though, this might not be such a big issue as you might think.

This will obviously depend on exactly what kind of software you are developing, but in our case, what made / broke companies in our industry, was the marketing and implementation. So when we sell our software, we don't really sell our software, but a solution / intellectual property / experience. It is a whole project where we hold the client's hand through the whole implementation process and assist with setting everything up (not just the software, but things like standardizing their internal processes, etc.), training, support, the works.

A lot of this will however depend on the type of software you are developing. Software that you can package and sell over the internet probably has a very different model than what we're doing.
 
R4C3 said:
2) Now you need to register for PAYE and Vat(if you plan on more than I think it is R300,000 turnover per year(not sure check the sars website)
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As far as I know you don't need to have a minimum turnover to register for a Vat number
 
I think if possible speak to an Accountant (a qualified CA), as she/he should have some advice to give you as well.
 
simon said:
As far as I know you don't need to have a minimum turnover to register for a Vat number
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Correct. It is only if you've reached R300k that you're forced to register for VAT. Not sure if it is still R300k or if it has been raised. For companies with product sales there is more advantage but for software, you usually claim very little VAT back so mostly you pay VAT through your nose every 2 months. However, if you're working with corporate companies, it looks bad if you don't have a VAT number.
 
ViperGTI said:
Correct. It is only if you've reached R300k that you're forced to register for VAT. Not sure if it is still R300k or if it has been raised. For companies with product sales there is more advantage but for software, you usually claim very little VAT back so mostly you pay VAT through your nose every 2 months. However, if you're working with corporate companies, it looks bad if you don't have a VAT number.
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The threshold is R1 million before you're forced to register for VAT. Otherwise voluntary registration can be done as long as the company has done at least R50k in the last 12 months, or can motivate it to the SARS commissioner that they should be VAT registered. But it's a long process, and SARS has become far stricter due to VAT fraud.

Being a VAT vendor helps when dealing with other VAT companies, but I don't see the need in the "Services" area, especially for a start-up company.
 
Denouncer said:
The threshold is R1 million before you're forced to register for VAT. Otherwise voluntary registration can be done as long as the company has done at least R50k in the last 12 months, or can motivate it to the SARS commissioner that they should be VAT registered. But it's a long process, and SARS has become far stricter due to VAT fraud.

Being a VAT vendor helps when dealing with other VAT companies, but I don't see the need in the "Services" area, especially for a start-up company.
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Right. I thought they raised the threshold, but wasn't sure if it was R500k or R1m.

This will obviously depend on your customer base, but corporate companies complain quite a lot if you're not registered for VAT while other larger companies can't even register you on their system as a vendor if you're not registered for VAT.

My recommendation would be to first go on without registering for VAT until it becomes an issue.
 
Denouncer said:
The threshold is R1 million before you're forced to register for VAT. Otherwise voluntary registration can be done as long as the company has done at least R50k in the last 12 months, or can motivate it to the SARS commissioner that they should be VAT registered. But it's a long process, and SARS has become far stricter due to VAT fraud.

Being a VAT vendor helps when dealing with other VAT companies, but I don't see the need in the "Services" area, especially for a start-up company.
Click to expand...

Its R1 million taxable supplies currently or expects to make taxable supplies of R1 million in any 12 month period. Its not just the last 12 months but any 12 months, same with the 50k figure
 
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