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The following information is presented as a guide for researching/investigating your potential business. It will also assist you in preparing for and completing your application for the NEIS program.
Please give some thought as to who your potential customers are and why would they buy your product or service? For example, who would be a possible customer for say, a Gardening Maintenance Business?
Operational Resources ? for example premises, people, qualifications, equipment. Do you have or are you able to acquire the necessary resources to operate your potential business successfully. Where are the gaps? Where would you need to contract expertise, ie legal, accountants etc, and how does this cost impact on your business?
Business Resources ? The following resources may be able to help with your research: BLIS (Business License Info Service) at http://www.bli.net.au Worksafe VIC: R.T.O; Local Councils; Victorian Business Centers IBIS (IBIS) is a computer program accessed through the Victorian Business Centers and contains relevant industry information. - Consumer Affairs can be contacted for information on Business Name Registrations.
Legal ? Please investigate the legal requirements of your proposal (e.g., food safety plan, 2nd hand dealers license, etc.) BLIS (above) can detail this information for you as a free service, http://www.bli.net.au/ or you can phone the business line on 132215
Insurance ? investigate availability, cost, etc. It is a requirement of the NEIS program that businesses take out appropriate insurance coverage. Investigation in the early stages may reveal that coverage is difficult or expensive to obtain for some business types.
Market Testing ? what do you know about your customers? How do they behave? What motivates them to buy? Why are you sure there are customers out there for your product and/or service? It is important to realize that often a customer's reaction to a product or service, or the customers needs in relation to a product or service, may be different to your own and therefore it is important to test your product or service where possible. If the results of your investigations encourage you to pursue your idea then a period of market testing (ie selling your product/service) may allow you to gain valuable feedback which may enable you to determine the potential viability of your proposal, to modify your product or service and to make a decision as to whether your proposed business will eventually become financially viable. (please refer to the enclosed ATO Brochure entitled "Am I In Business?"
Do you understand what the benefits of your product or service are?
What do you know about the industry you are proposing to enter? What are the industry characteristics? (when thinking about the industry you are in, an example is a Hot Air Balloon Rides business, which is considered to be in the tourism industry, therefore the state of the tourism industry is going to have an effect on the potential viability of the business).
Who are your competitors? Remember when looking at your competitors, you need to also look at who is competing for the same dollar that you are targeting ? therefore the Hot Air Balloon Rides business would look at other tourism based businesses when considering who their competitors are.
How do you think you will be able to let your customers know that you exist? What mediums could you use to promote or market your product to your customers?
How much is commencing the business going to cost you? What equipment is essential to commencement and what can be purchased once the business is operating? What do you need to purchase out right, what can you hire, lease etc. Do you have the funds to get this all happening? Please note that NEIS does not provide start up funds, this is the responsibility of the proposed business owner.
Note for further information please go to www.workplace.gov.au/workplace/Programmes/NEIS/
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