You’ve got the idea. Here’s everything else.
The complete, honest Australian path from a great idea to a registered, online, found business, in sensible order, so you can just work it. Do it yourself with our steps, or hand us the lot.
Get a free quote →Shape the idea, one page
Before you spend a dollar, get it on a page.
- What you sell, and who it’s for.
- How you make money, price, and what each sale costs you.
- How they’ll find you, your first few ways to get customers.
- One page beats a 40-page plan you never finish. If you can’t explain it simply, keep shaping.
Pick your structure
This choice decides your next steps, so do it before you register anything.
- Sole trader, simplest and cheapest. You are the business. Great to start.
- Company (Pty Ltd), a separate legal entity: more protection, more admin and cost. Registered with ASIC (you get an ACN).
- Not sure? Most people start as a sole trader and switch later. That’s fine.
Register your business
The official bit, and it has an order, because each step needs the one before it.
- 1. Get your ABN, free, through the Australian Business Register (via business.gov.au). Sole traders use their personal TFN; companies use the company’s.
- 2. Register your business name with ASIC (about $44/year), only if you’ll trade under a name that isn’t your own (or your company’s). You need your ABN first.
- 3. GST, register once your turnover hits $75,000 a year (or you expect it to). Not before you need to.
- 4. Licences & permits, some trades need one. Check yours at ABLIS in two minutes.
- 5. Insurance, public liability and any cover your trade needs.
Claim your name online
Now you’ve got an ABN, lock in your online identity.
- Register your domain, a .com.au tells customers you’re a real Aussie business (and it needs your ABN to register).
- Business email on your domain, you@yourbusiness.com.au, not a gmail. It’s the difference between looking real and looking new.
- Grab the matching social handles while you’re at it.
Build a website you own
Your home base, in your name, on your account, yours to keep.
- A real site you own, not a rented builder that holds your work hostage if you stop paying.
- Built to turn visitors into enquiries, not just to look pretty.
- Fast, mobile, and set up so you control the content.
Get found on Google
The free listing that puts you on the map, done the right way.
- Set up your Google Business Profile properly (your real name, right categories, services, photos, reviews).
- Don’t fall for the keyword-stuffing trick that gets listings suspended.
- Keep your Name, Address, Phone identical everywhere (NAP). Earn real reviews and reply to them.
Market it, honestly
Now you exist online, bring the right people to you.
- Socials, email and content, planned around genuine value, not vanity likes.
- Consistency beats intensity. A little, often, beats a burst then silence.
- Measure real outcomes, enquiries and sales, not follower counts.
Grow & run it
Keep it turning.
- Keep everything accurate and consistent, hours, listings, content.
- Reinvest what works; drop what doesn’t. Let the real numbers decide.
- As you grow, hand off the bits that eat your time.
Two honest ways to do this
It’s all here, free, work the steps yourself and you’ll get a real business online, the right way. It’s a long list, and it’s ongoing. If you’d rather get your time back, we’ll build and run the whole thing, in your name, on your accounts, yours to keep. A turkey you own, not a rental.
Every method here follows Australian rules and Google’s own guidelines, nothing that can get you penalised or suspended. Registration details change; always confirm the specifics on business.gov.au. We keep this playbook current.
Once you’re open, the marketing
The playbook gets you launched. These walk you through being found and staying visible, and they’re all free to read.
The content calendar that actually gets used
A filled-in fortnight you can copy, so your socials never go quiet in week three. Plus the Australian bits most calendars miss.
Read it →Promoting on no budget
Free ways to get your business in front of people, and the sales habits that turn an enquiry into a customer.
Browse →Marketing, in plain English
The fundamentals without the jargon, written for someone running the business rather than a marketing department.
Browse →More in the blog, or the honest teardowns of the tricks to watch for: guaranteed rankings, bought reviews and the free tool trap.