Government small business resources on the web

Few of the biggest Web based resources for small business are available on government maintained Web sites and large institutions, whether private or public. Let us explore some of these resources.

General Resources

Business Entry Point brings together all government information, transactions and services at one place. It offers how-to guides on starting a business and information on a range of topics such as employing people, fair trading, grants and assistance, importing and exporting, insurance, intellectual property, occupational health and safety, licensing and taxation.

It may also be helpful to visit your state government’s business Web site as it runs many business support and development programmes. The Web site for business in NSW is run by NSW Department of State and Regional Development.

Starting up

Australia is one of those countries where starting a business is fast and easy. Whether you decide your business structure to be proprietary or private or public company, registration is quick and easy.

One of the first things to do as a company proprietor is to register an Australian Business Number (ABR). An ABR helps you register an Australia Business Number (ABN). This site also offers link to other registration sites such as Goods & Services Tax (GST)/Fuel Tax Credit, Pay as you Go (PAYG) Withholding and Tax File Number (TFN). Registering a company is done by ASIC. You may check them out to find out about how to register a company.

Getting Capital and Support

There is a lot of institutional assistance available for Australian companies and one of the principal institutions that provides it is AusIndustry which has a comprehensive Web site. AusIndustry provides several grant and assistance to help you grow your small business, conduct research and development and to commercialise a venture. In short, it can help your innovation to find a market.

Banks, as one of the major provider of business finance, have dedicated business Web sites such as Business Centre at Commonwealth Bank, Business Banking at Westpac Bank and Corporate and Business Banking at St. George. These sections of banks’ Web sites provide not only information about their products and services but also offer useful guides on starting and running a business, how to achieve a work-life balance. This is also the place to visit if you intend to take up a merchant account to receive credit card payments from your customers.

If your business has become large enough to list on a stock exchange then check out listing services at Australian Stock Exchange (ASX).

Running a Business

Day to day running of business can be made smoother with the help of the Web. A number of government services are available on the Web and Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is one of the organizations where you can access many services online. You may access many of these services such as applying for ABN, filing activity statements, paying your tax, filing employer obligations online. You not only get easy to read information but also forms and online services.

It is essential that you protect your assets such as your trademark and explore applying for patents for any innovation or unique processes or products that you have invented. IP Australia is the organization that registers trademarks and deals with patents and you can not only get detailed information on what and how you can register but also interact with them and apply online.

Using online resources provided by government and large institutions not only help you save your business time but also help you become flexible as you can access these resources anytime, anywhere so you don’t have to visit their offices. Sometimes, you may not even have to go to your own office as you can even file your documents and reports from your home.