Whether you are opening a new location, setting up a physical location for an online store or even starting a brand new brick and mortar business, there are a few considerations to bear in mind to ensure your businesses is legally sound and ready to succeed.

Whilst there are many other important elements of your business to set up, such as a retail maintenance contract, supplier contracts, social media and accounting tools, here are the most important elements to set up before opening your retail establishment.

Establish Your Business

You need to legally declare to the government that your store is a business before you open up, and this will affect how you pay taxes, how responsible you are personally for debt and the responsibilities you have for accounting.

Generally, there are three main types of business structure, with variations based on different circumstances:

• Sole Trader – The easiest type of business to set up, essentially if you run a business as an individual and are self-employed you are most likely a sole trader. You keep all of a business’s profits after tax but are also personally responsible for all losses.
• Partnership – The easiest way to establish a business with other people, these are separated into general partnerships (where every business partner runs the store and is liable for its debt) and limited liability (where each partner’s debts are separate).
• Limited Company – Separated into corporations and limited liability companies (LLCs), owners are not personally liable for business debt but there are more managerial and reporting responsibilities.

After you have set this up, you can get ready to write your business plan, pick a name, get the licenses you need and announce your presence through social media and marketing campaigns.