Startup Australia

http://www.business.gov.au/Business+Entry+Point/

Startup Videos

How to start a Startup

Many people dream of starting their own business, how do you do it?

In the tech community the hackers' dream is to sell their cool webapp to Google for millions of dollars. This is so rare that is does not occur in statistical terms. Yes, we all know the stories and names Writely, Blogger, YouTube, SketchUp etc but the is reality most do not succeed.

There are a number of distinct phases a startup goes through:

0. Pre-startup
This is where a person is annoyed by the lack of service or solution to a problem they have and think there must be an easier way.

Often it takes a long time before your thoughts are solidified into actions. On many projects may take years for either the market or the technology to catch-up to your insights.

Alternatively, you can overcome the technological barriers on making it.

1. Part-time startup
This is when you have decided to start a project, it is not necessarily business, it could be a new community gardening group or countless other social groups.

There is no / little formal structure. You and possibly several like-minded individuals start doing work without regard to costs. Business planning is non existent, the only question is can I solve my problem.

This is often called "scratching your own itch".

Within a short while, people decide if there is a business to had from the project and start thinking how to generate revenue from the project.

People continue to work their 'real' jobs and often use their employers equipment and stationery as a cheap source of capital.

"As long as you’re willing to invest your moonlight hours to develop your business, continuing to take a salary while launching your startup company is basically like asking your current employer to fund your new startup – without actually asking them."
Wil Schroter

2. Professional startup (Or why I don't have money any more?)
This is where you 'quit' being an employee to work on your project full-time.

People are wildly optimistic (you have to be as an entrepreneur) in estimating how quickly and cheaply you will succeed.

1. It always takes longer than you planned
2. It always is more expensive

It is a shock when you do not receive a regular wage. If you are doing some consulting / subcontracting work while developing your product or service, clients are often slow to pay.

Often this is the stage where you need access to OPM (Other People's Money). Depending on the amount and type of business you may need either a 'seed investment' (3F money), an angel investor(s) or Venture Capital. If this is the case, you will also need a quality business plan.

Seek advice from an established Australian-based business start up team (such as Business Switch) or a reliable accountant or lawyer with decent startup experience. Whoever you use, try to secure a fixed-price before engaging, otherwise you may get cost blow-out.

Some firms from experience of the forum members (Please contribute to this list if you've have good experiences)