Top 10 Legal Essentials When Starting Your Small Business

Top 10 Legal Essentials When Starting Your Small Business

Congratulations! You have an idea for your small business, and things are starting to come together. What you have to be aware of, however, is the legal government regulations that are in place. To help you along this oftentimes challenging path, I have compiled a list of 10 legal essentials you must cover before you can get your business up and running.

Note: during this article, I will regularly cite legislation. Note that legislation is used as a framework for legal issues and cannot be used on its own. Look at case law for interpretation of that framework and how it is applied.

• Register Business Name

Excepting when you conduct a business under your personal name, company name or partnership, you are legally required to register your business name for tax obligations. This includes registering for an Australian Business Number (ABN), Goods and Services Tax (GST), Tax File Number (TFN) and pay as you go (PAYG) withholding.

• Fair Trade

In today’s competitive environment, it is imperative that you comply with relevant trading laws and regulations and avoid misleading and deceptive practices. As such, you need to be familiar with the fair trading laws that will govern the day-to-day workings of your business. This includes the fair trading laws in the Competitor and Consumer Act 2010, Australian Consumer Law, Product Safety Rules and Codes of Conduct in your industry.

• Employment Law

There are a lot of benefits for treating your employees well. You get to limit employee turnover and, you guessed it, abide by the law! The Fair Work Act 2009 is your Bible for employment law, covering topics such as fair pay, workplace health and safety, discrimination laws, sexual harassment and workplace compensation insurance.

• Privacy Law

If your business collects and stores client’s personal information, the Privacy Act 1998 details your clients’ rights in regards to the collection of their data.

• Intellectual Property

Do you like your business’ data being leaked and illegally sold to disreputable third parties with malicious intent? I didn’t think so. That is why it is important to consult with a legal professional to register and understand your IP rights, as well as the rights of other IP’s.

• Marketing Regulations

Businesses must abide by rules and regulations when advertising their business, such as laws about honesty, telemarketing, direct marketing and spam and more. The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has a handy guide, but as with most things it is strongly advised to talk to a legal professional.

• Terms and Conditions

Your business’ terms and conditions set out yours and your customers’ rights and obligations including privacy, payment terms, warranties and disclaimers etc. What will be on them differ for every business so as usual, consult legal advice.

• Environmental Protection Laws

Every business has an obligation to be environmentally friendly. This is not only for climate reasons, but also because it can actually end up saving money in the long run. These laws vary drastically per industry, so you will have to take some time to get educated on them.

• Imports and Exports

You must have the correct permits to import and export goods for your business. There is no requirement for businesses to have a license to import goods into the country, however other conditions apply such as paying GST.

• Franchising

Your legal obligations when franchising can be found in the Franchising Code of Conduct.

If you have any questions about setting up your small business, please do not hesitate to contact me. I am here to help.