There are very few individuals that come to me prior to starting their own business, which is a real shame. At The Montana Group we do thousands of hours of bookkeeping and hundreds of personal tax returns annually that pertain to small and medium sized businesses. I believe we are experts in guiding individuals on the “must dos for starting your own business”.
I recently read a book detailing the author’s dream of having her own fitness gym. For the purpose of full disclosure the author is Robin Smith, a facilitator for the Master Mentor group I belong to. We’ve met monthly over the last couple of years and shared our successes and challenges in running our individual businesses. During this time I didn’t really get to know a lot about Robin personally. What knowledge I had, pertained to her two businesses and love of her dogs. I also knew she was goal oriented and very focused.
The book “Jump For Joy, When Your Dreams Come True” gives the reader a full and honest insight into the writer and her dreams. The type of dreams so many of us have, but fear stops us from moving forward. It also details the steps she took to make her dream a reality.
The following is a combined list of what I believe you must do to start or purchase a business and Robin’s experiences which are included in her book
Step 3 from Robin’s Book – Make A Plan Based On Your Dream But Set In Reality
1) Take as much time as needed to think about what you want your business to look like if you are successful.
2) Research the industry you are planning to become involved in. Between books and the internet there is no reason to enter into this exciting venture without the necessary knowledge required to make good decisions.
3) If this is your first business then you also need to research what is involved in starting or purchasing a business in general. Proprietorship or Incorporation, purchasing or leasing options, government reporting are just a few examples.
4) Make a business plan. If you need financing you won’t get money without one. Even if you don’t need funding you need to chart the direction of the business in all its details. When working on the plan you will also be made aware of some additional Pros and Cons of running a business. I personally think this is one of the most important steps.
5) Develop your own panel of experts. Once you start with your business plan it should become clear where you’re going to need help. Whether it is a bookkeeper, accountant, lawyer, publisher, IT professional – the list can be long.
6) Surround yourself with people that will give you honest feedback and support. And be aware that not all of your friends and family will give you their automatic support. Some may not want you to succeed, or they worry you will change if you become successful.
If you do your homework to determine what needs to be done to make your dream come true, then congratulate yourself and get ready to take the next step. Or perhaps, Jump for Joy!
As mentioned earlier, there is an endless supply of reference materials to help guide you to your business dream. But if you have one or two particular questions you would like some help on, please contact me. It would nice to be considered a dream maker.
I’d love your feedback! Here on my blog, you’ll get some commentluv. This is a wonderful opportunity to leave a link back to your own blog when you leave a comment.
Until next time,
Maureen
Tags: accounting services Newmarket, bookkeeper Newmarket, bookkeeping services Newmarket, Jump for Joy book, Maureen Burleson, Robin Smith, starting your own business, steps to starting a business, The Montana Group

Every once in awhile, a tax client that I haven’t seen in a couple of years, returns. Sadly when I ask them what they have been up to, they will say that they needed to declare bankruptcy. While there are so many issues to consider when declaring bankruptcy, this blog post will only address personal tax returns and benefits as they relate to bankruptcy.
The Children’s Activity Tax Credit (CATC) is effective with the filing of 2011 tax returns. Do not get it confused with the Children’s Fitness Tax Credit, which is a completely different credit even though some of the criteria are similar to both. This is a Federal initiative but the amount of credits can vary by province or territory. In this blog post, I’ll discuss 7 things you should know about the Children’s Activity Tax Credit.
With ever increasing living costs and higher unemployment, some families have decided the best way to make ends meet is by supplying daycare in their homes. Below are 7 tips regarding supplying daycare in your home.
I regularly get questions from my business and tax clients about how they should record their vehicle expenses and the records that need to be kept. A simplified logbook for vehicle expenses was announced in 2010 by Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). According to the CRA, the introduction of the simplified logbook was to ease the tax compliance burden on business owners. The logbook can be used for businesses and those that incur vehicle expenses as a requirement through employment.
Whether you started out as a small business ownership or partnership and then incorporated, or incorporated originally when starting your business, there are a number of steps you need to be aware of once you’ve incorporated. With incorporating done online more frequently, you’re not always given the “what do I have to do now” scenarios. Here are 7 steps that must be considered after incorporating your business.
Do you feel that once you’ve received THE envelope from CRA that it’s the end of the line and you need to pay what they have determined you owe? Well you don’t have to leave it at that, especially if you feel you have additional information with the relevant facts and documentation that could change their position. Here are the top most frequent 5 CRA (Re) Assessments tax liabilities that arise in my office:
If you’re a small business and your total employer’s EI premium paid in 2010 was less than $10,000 and your total premiums increased in 2011, you could be eligible for this credit. The difference in the premium costs, to a maximum of $1,000, is the basis for this credit.
The recently released 2012 QuickBooks Pro has impressed me. There have not been these many significant changes that are actually practical, in years. In total, there are 13 new key features and 4 improved features. Here are my top 3 picks of the new features, in no particular order: