Starting A Business
Start-up Information
Starting a new retail business is an exciting time, but it can also be a daunting one. We offer a range of services to get you on the right track and help build your business skills and confidence.
Contact your Council Business Advisors here:
Our Enterprise Adelaide Business Advisors offer free one on one advice. Call and make an appointment today.
Learn about Council Approvals and Permits here:
If you are leasing premises, please also review the sections on approvals, permits and licenses as you may need approval to operate your business in that location.
Download this helpful Negotiating Your Lease Checklist.
Do your on-site Research first:
It is imperative that you conduct a feasibility study of the potential store location. Observation is very powerful as you can personally see customers walking past, traffic moving along the street and the location of the sun during morning, afternoon or lunch periods. The location of city offices nearby can have a big impact on your sales and profit.
Consider the customers walking past to see if they match your target market segments. The city offers more than 122,000 workers and 100,000 visitors daily, more than 20,000 city residents, tourists and thousands of students enrolled at the many city campuses. Are they in Rundle Mall, walking through arcades or browsing shop windows along one of the city mainstreets?
Have a look at your competitors nearby. What range of products do they have? What is their pricing structure? Are your products sufficiently different? Is your location better? Check out their website to see their customer offer and special deals. What are their strengths and weaknesses?
Consider parking options if your customers need to pick your products. Are there street parking options or car parking stations nearby? Do you need loading and unloading options close to your shop? Have some business associates look at the shop and ask questions because they could raise some issues without having an emotional attachment to the site. Also take time to talk to neighbouring shop owners about doing business there.
City of Adelaide can help you with information on the city, its sectors, its precincts, demographic statistics and major developments. We also offer research services including city user profiles.
Designed to assist small business operators, the ABS Small Business Portal can help with market research, profiling customers and planning a business case. Links are provided to relevant ABS data, training, consultancy services and other useful information.
Ask one of the Council Business advisers to meet you onsite to provide some assistance. Download the PDF from your selected mainstreet on this website to gain localised retail information.
Need Business Planning Information?:
There are both Federal and State websites that offer business planning tools and information for starting a business.
Where to find Grants or Financial Support:
If you are a job seeker interested in starting and running a small business, you might be eligible for assistance through the New Enterprise Incentive Scheme (NEIS). NEIS can provide you with accredited small business training, business advice and mentoring, as well as ongoing income support for up to a year.
As a business owner, the financial responsibility of your business lies with you. It’s important to have a sound understanding of your business finances. Improve your financial knowledge at Business.gov.au.
If you are seeking business finance, whether you need finance for starting or growing a business or just to help with cash flow fluctuations, the information at Business.gov.au can get you on the right track. If you are looking for a government grant, all available grants can be searched via the Federal Government Grant Finder.
Register your new Business Name here:
To register your business name, go to the Australian Securities & Investment Commission.
It is important to register your business name to ensure cannot be easily copied and that you are protected. You don’t want to share your success with anyone else.
Registering a Trademark and protecting your brand:
To register a trademark, go to IP Australia.
It is important to register your brand and logo. This is your business and your hard work must be protected. If you don’t register your trademark you’re brand can be copied and used in the same street, same neighbourhood or centre.
Get your Australian Business Number (ABN) here:
To obtain an ABN contact the Australian Tax Office.
Small Bar assistance:
Planning to open a small licensed venue in the City? Contact our Business Advisors to arrange a meeting. Also see the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure (DPTI) Fact sheets. DPTI have a free case management service which simplifies the current complex assessment and licensing processes as well as offering advice and assistance from the initial planning stage through to the opening of premises.
Online Food Safety Training:
You can access FREE online Food Safety Training here. Training is completed online in your own time and you can select the modules that most suit what you need to understand for your position working in the Food industry.
Food Safety Australia information:
Food Safety Australia is a registered training organisation and has a number of online courses available to help people in the food industry comply with legal requirements and be educated in food safety requirements.
Tourism Business assistance:
The South Australian Tourism Commission (SATC) is committed to growing the state's tourism industry, and works industry to support tourism growth.
The Australian Tourism Data Warehouse is a central storage and distribution facility for tourism industry product and destination information. Complimentary resources include a tourism e kit to provide information to Australian tourism operators to help them make the most of online opportunities.
Assistance with Franchises
The ACCC offers useful information and also sponsors free franchise training for prospective franchisees.
Business Rights and Obligations
The ACCC offers a free online education program designed to help small businesses learn more about their rights and obligations under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.
To determine whether any products you wish to sell are regulated or safe to sell, contact the Product Safety Australia (a division of the ACCC).
Safework SA is the state government agency responsible for administering South Australia Work, Health & Safety Act and Industrial Relations laws. As an employer, you are legally obliged to protect the health, safety and welfare of your workers and other people who could be adversely affected by work carried out by your business under the Work Health and Safety Act 2012 (the OHSW Act). For more information call 1300 365 255.
Fair Work Australia has resources to help you through the employment lifecycle, including hiring new staff, managing your employees and ending the employment relationship.
The Office of the Small Business Commissioner provides services where disputes can be resolved with as minimal stress as possible to small business operators.
