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Opening a business


Bigvan07

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Hi guys,

I am just feeling the water and would like to start doing some research on the matters.

My wife has had a life long dream to open her own daycare/pre-school. She has a BEd Early Childhood Development, so qualification wise, that is sorted.

No I know there is VERY strict regulations regarding this as you would have to be cleared to work with kids etc. (This does happen when registering as a teacher anyway if memory serves)

Can anyone point my into the right direction where I can start looking at this, ie business plans, all clearances, business registration numbers and the likes?

Also, a very good friend of mine is following us in a year's time, he has his own business here(small, nothing too fancy, the will also come over on his wife's qualification with a 189)

He has created a product in SA that is fairly unique and actually received inquiries from Aus, where people are asking if he can't ship there as they can't find any product over yonder that relates to it.

When he does come over, we will go into the business 50/50, thus I would like to start doing the ground work so long(I have a Civil Engineering Diploma, if it makes a difference)

Now the big question is, chemicals are used in creating this product, applying it takes hand labour. We will be doing this ourselves offcourse. It is a type of epoxy coating, so will we need licenses to use the product, where can we source chemicals from and will we need some form of trade to do it?

Thanks.

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Regarding your wife's plans. I will always suggest that you cut your teeth in an Aus equivalent of the business you plan to open first. There are lots of differences in how people do things here, plus the entirely different government/state/council requirements for businesses. Employing staff here is such a different ball game to RSA. I would say that she should at least work for someone else for a year to understand the workings of it all. It would be a hell of a gamble otherwise. She might get lucky, but a huge risk to take, especially when the other partner is not in long time steady employment. Contact a forum member called Rikamarie, and also read all of her posts. She will have invaluable experience your wife will benefit from.

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Thanks Rozellem,

I will have a look into that idea. It all depends on who gets a job first between the two of us, we intend to slog it out with a single income then to give the other a chance of getting the business off the ground.

But, for instance if I get a steady job, she will then be able to work in a situation like that to gain the invaluable experience.

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Bigvan there are sections on the ATO website for small business owners. I think that's a good place to start

https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/Starting-and-running-your-small-business/In-detail/Services-for-small-business/Small-business-assist/

You will need to register the business for an ABN (Australian Business Number) and TFN (Tax File Number). There are also places you can look online to check whether your potential business name is already taken but not sure where that is any more.

Remember as soon as you register, you need to start filing your BAS (Business Activity Statements) so rather wait until you are good and ready.

Often the different State Govt have small business assistance for eg. Seminars or cheap MYOB (bookkeeping) courses. Look on their websites.

Company structures here are Pty Ltd, Partnerships or Sole Props (cc's don't exist).

Ps. I hope you like acronyms...;)

Edited by Bronwyn&Co
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Haha Bronwyn,

tyvm :P

Ok it took me a while, but I got it :)

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Bigvan07, opening a childcare facility is one of the most difficult things you can do in Oz. Getting clearance to work with kids is easy - took me one form, two weeks to get permission (had to get that to teach Sunday school).

I'm not trying to discourage you, but the rules and regulations here are very strict. Just a couple of things you have to consider: She has to be OHS/WHS approved, meaning first aid qualification, emergency fire drills and evacuation procedures in place etc. She has to be approved by the authority that regulates the food industry - lots of regulations about preparing food, providing food - most facilities offer lunch and morning/afternoon tea. She has to be savvy in acting quickly on medical conditions as most kids here have some type of allergy and easily go into anaphylactic shock . You have incident reports on each child. If my child fell of her chair and gets a scratch, they are required to complete a legal form that the parent has to sign. Childcare records need to be kept by the facility for 20 years. She has to know about personal liability insurance - if they can sue you they will. Things that you may not even think of: you cannot take pictures of children without the parents permission. You cannot put sunscreen on a child unless a parent has given written consent. The payment system is complicated because different families qualify for different benefits i.e. CCR & CCB (which may have changed by the time you come). Employing others to work for you is a total different ball game with it's own rules. If your school is pre-school you need to be an approved "early childhood educational provider" (well at least in Qld), otherwise you'll most likely not attract people as the 'early childhood educational provider' follows a state curriculum to prepare kids for school.

There are two different childcare options here, family care and childhood care. You may want to explore the family care option and that may be easier. That is where you take 3-5 children in at your home and look after them. Also very regulated, but IMHO may be an easier option. Or work at a daycare facility for a couple of years and learn all the rules and then try.

I'm not saying it's impossible. My daughter is in a child care facility owned by saffers, so it is doable. It's just not as easy as in South Africa and the problem is you don't know what you don't know.

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Hi Bigvan07

I'm a chemist and work at a Uni in the lab. The mountains of paperwork we have to do to work with chemicals is absolutely mind boggling, so be prepared to do a :censored: load of admin to work with any chemicals. As with the daycare, everything in Australia is HIGHLY regulated, to the point of non-function-ability sometimes. Not saying it can't be done, but be ready to have regulation up to your neck.

Good luck.

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@Bronwyn Just keeping you young and up to speed with the lingo :whome:

@Heidim Thank you for the lengthy reply, I will take your advice to heart and discuss this with my wife, maybe the family care route is better to go then?

@Erik Thanks to you you for the informed reply, it is not so much chemicals, wrong choice of word on my side. It is more in the line of typical solvents, resins, quartz sand and liquid pigments. WIthout giving away too much :blush-anim-cl:, it is a slightly modified version of a standard epoxy used for floors.

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