Self-employment

Self-employment is an exciting and sustainable option for people who want to be their own boss and have their own business. We understand that setting up a business can be confusing and planning for it can be tricky as you don’t know what’s ahead of you. However, you don’t need to do this on your own.

There are many free government resources, tools, programs and support available to you; that you can access in your own time and at your own pace. You can choose the resources that meets your needs and the needs of your small business and will help step you through what you need to do, to help you succeed.

Below are some excellent self-employment tips and resources to get you started including 6 essential steps to consider:

Six essential steps

If you are thinking of starting a small business, here are 6 essential steps to consider:

Starting and owning a business is a big responsibility. While it may seem to offer purpose, meaning, focus for your passion, independence, joy, and a rewarding livelihood, it is not guaranteed.
Why do you want to start a business? Define your goals and have a realistic business plan to help you achieve your objectives.
Think about the ‘business of running the business’. This includes:

setting up right and the governance structure of your business
systems for your tax and legal obligations
structures and information sources to indicate the real-time success of your business, so you can adjust and make changes quickly if needed.

Work through a detailed budget for your set-up and early operating costs while building revenue – and then double it. Even when small businesses feel confident with detailed budgets and set-up plans, it is common to still need around twice the level of investment than originally thought.
Find a trusted adviser, like an accountant, to be a valuable sounding board, coach, and ally to you. It’s important to know you don’t have to do everything on your own.
Tap into your local small business community. This includes industry associations, business chambers or similar peer groups that you can go to for advice, questions, learnings, support, and wisdom.

Tips and resources

Develop a business plan to help you start, grow, or transform your business.
Digital Solutions – ASBAS program can help you to adopt digital tools to save you time and money, while also help you to grow your business.
Employee or contractor guide to help you work out if you are an employee or a contractor, and what your tax, superannuation and other obligations are.
The Employment Contract Tool can help you to build your own employment contract, for an employee under Australia’s Fair Work System, that is tailored to your business needs.
Essentials to strengthen your small business from the ATO offers flexible, and free online training for all stages of owning and running a small business.
The Fair Work Ombudsman is here to help and has support and resources if you decide to hire employees. They also have free training courses will teach you skills and strategies to help you run your own business.
Find out what registrations, licences and permits you might need to start, grow or transform your business now, and into the future.
Hiring employee’s checklist and tips to help you if you are thinking about hiring staff for your small business, making sure you meet Australian laws when hiring employees.
Managing the exit process and understanding the rights, obligations, and legislation when you need to end the employment of an employee.
New Enterprise Incentive Scheme can help you to start and develop your small business by providing training, develop a business plan, mentoring, and a NEIS Allowance and Rental Assistance (if eligible) while you work on setting up your own business.
Self-Employment Assistance can help you turn your business idea or existing small business into a viable business. The program allows you to choose the level of support that meets your needs and the needs of your small business. Self-Employment Assistance replaced the New Business Assistance with NEIS program in July 2022.
SelfStart guides steps you through the basics for starting a business. The guides also link to other resources, tools, and support to help you succeed.
Sole Trader Viability Testing a free online tool to help you work out whether your business is viable by returning enough of a profit to the small business owner while also meeting commitments to business creditors, and if your business has enough cash resources to sustain itself through a period where your business may not be returning a profit.
When your business is up and running, you should take the time to develop a succession plan for the future. Having one in place will help you to understand and navigate the different stages to successfully hand over your business to your successor.
Workforce Australia has the support you need to take the next steps as a sole trader or small business.