Canadian Business Startup

Hi everyone, I am new to this forum. Hope you can help me out. I am hoping to start a (for now) side business doing family and portrait photography, and someday wedding photography. I am wondering what the best way to go about starting my own business would be. I am interested in mainly location work, so setting up a studio is not on my radar right now.

Do I need to register for a business name? What about starting my own site? I am really new to the business end of this, any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated, thanks in advance I would like to have a good basis now, so that I can expand in the future if desired.

bump

Where are you located in Canada? I'm in Ontario and can offer some advice/suggestions for registering your business name, retail sales tax etc if that is where you're at...

I'm in NB actually.... but are the rules that different??

RubiJane,

I would be interested in some basic info for setting up shop in Ontario, Toronto specifically.

Thank you.

RubiJane, same here. Any information or resources you can provide would be fantastic. Thanks!

@fifik:

You can operate a business in New Brunswick without registering a business name. If you operate under your own name, and if your gross annual revenue is under $30,000 per year, you do not have to register your business. You can claim both the income and expenses using the Business and Professional Services form on your personal income taxes. There are both advantages and disadvantages to this.

I would recommend reviewing the Business section of the ServiceNB website for further information and explanation. Or, seek the assistance of an accountant or financial advisor.

Hi Rubi Jane,

I'd also be interested in the info. Anything would help at this moment for me.

Thanks

The best resources for starting a business in Ontario are:

http://www.rev.gov.on.​ca/english

and

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/menu-e.html

For a simple small business it isn't that hard, it just means a lot of reading. For anyone just getting started, do yourself a huge favor and make sure that your tax accounts are in order and records are kept because it is a huge PITA to sort that stuff out after you've started getting paid.

Matthew Craggs wrote in post #8453596
The best resources for starting a business in Ontario are:

http://www.rev.gov.on.​ca/english

and

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/menu-e.html

They would be the best resources.

If you start up a photography business in Ontario you must register for an Ontario Vendor Permit to collect & remit Ontario Retail Sales Tax (the 8% PST). This is done as part of the process of registering your business name. Don't kid yourself thinking because you're small & just starting out that you don't need to deal with PST, you do. All goods you sell are taxable and you can pretty well consider all your services taxable also. See RST Guide 509.

If you don't use an accountant currently it's worth getting advice prior to start-up. They will help determine if you should register for GST or not, what value to place on personal equipment being bought into the company, Home/studio/business expenses etc. An hour's fee will be recouped in the first year's tax savings.

Get insured! Liability and in-land marine coverage on equipment at the least. Get a police check in advance and renew every two years. You'll be ready to show it if/when asked rather than telling a potential client it'll take you 30 days to get one.

That'll get you going.