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Many people feel as though entrepreneurship is the best route for them. Maybe you’re an innovator and you have a business idea you believe will be a huge success or maybe you’re just tired of working for someone else and want to explore self-employment. Starting a business can be a rewarding yet complex experience. This post is all about how to start a business in Canada.

Name your business

While the name of your business may seem like a minor detail, the name of your business can have a major influence on the success of your business. Canada Business Network suggests a few questions to ask yourself when brainstorming a name for your business:

• Does it describe the product or service you offer?
• Does it reflect the values of your business?
• Is the name distinctive?
• Can customers identify and remember it?
• Are you legally allowed to use it?

You should also consider your web presence when choosing a name because you want your domain name to match your business’s name.

Sole proprietorship, partnership, or corporation?

One of the first steps in starting your business it to decide what kind of structure it will take. There are three main types of business organizations: sole proprietorship, partnership, and corporation.

i. Sole proprietorship

In a sole proprietorship, one owner keeps all the profit but they pay income taxes on business profit and are fully responsible for any debts. Since the business is not incorporated, a creditor can make a claim against either your personal or business assets to repay debt. However, since there is little regulation and they are simple to set up they are a popular business structure.

ii. Partnership

A partnership is another structure in which two or more people share the profits and liabilities—although not necessarily equally. For instance, some partners may not be involved in day-to-day tasks or they may have limited liability. With the help of a lawyer, it is important to establish an agreement to outline each partner’s roles and to protect the partners in the case of a disagreement.

iii. Corporation

If you choose to incorporate your business—which can be done at the federal or provincial/territorial level—it becomes a completely separate legal entity from its owners. This means that the shareholders of the corporation cannot be held personally liable for the debts, obligations, or acts of the corporation. Additionally, according to Investopedia, a corporation has similar rights as individuals, including the right to enter into contracts, loan and borrow money, sue and be sued, hire employees, own assets and pay taxes.

See this link for advantages and disadvantages of each of these business structures.

Business registration

Before you register your business, legal consult is always a good idea. Lucky for you, we have a new partnership that we are proud to announce for our Entrepreneur’s Club, Law Scout. They make this process fast and easy for small business owners, ensuring you go through all of the proper steps when launching your business including all of your documents are professionally prepared. They offer a fixed fee and provide an online platform with automated processes for you to use. Not only will this save you time and money, but you hold onto your own documents and can access them at any time.

Once you decide on a name and structure for your business and have had a legal consult, you must register it with the government. The business registration process differs by province/territory, so visit this link for more information. To register your business federally you can use Canada Revenue Agency’s Business Registration Online. There are certain requirements you need to meet in order to use BRO. If you are in Québec you need to use Revenu Québec’s Businesses Portal to register your business.

After you complete the entire business registration process you will have the necessities, including a Business Number, registered business name and a GST/HST account.

Next steps

Once you complete all the administrative work required to start a business, it’s time to begin operations and think about your marketing strategy. 411.ca is a resource for information about online marketing, social media, and web management for Canadian small business. Our small business experts are available to answer your questions and help you in the success and growth of your fellow Canadian business.

Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn for daily advice on launching a small biz.

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