Hi Propagate
Some excellent advice on here- structure is important, after winging it on an ABN for years my wife and I had a side business that started to take off, and some time spent intially with a good accountant and solicitor to go Pty Ltd made a huge difference, particularly if you may ever find yourself in any legal trouble. 3 years on and its ticking along very nicely.
Also, if you are doing this type of work for an employer currently check whether there could be any intellectual property/competition issues- have seen people sued when they went out on their own/worked with clients of ex-employer.
If you are still at the early stage of testing the waters try a very lean model quietly on the side of your day job and see how you go- having your own business is a huge mission, and the business plan often needs tweaking- can help to try a lean start up http://theleanstartup.com/ type model before you take the plunge. We work in digital marketing/web design so this was particulalry helpful for us, however the lean principles can be applied to many other business ideas.
Good luck, go for it!
Some excellent advice on here- structure is important, after winging it on an ABN for years my wife and I had a side business that started to take off, and some time spent intially with a good accountant and solicitor to go Pty Ltd made a huge difference, particularly if you may ever find yourself in any legal trouble. 3 years on and its ticking along very nicely.
Also, if you are doing this type of work for an employer currently check whether there could be any intellectual property/competition issues- have seen people sued when they went out on their own/worked with clients of ex-employer.
If you are still at the early stage of testing the waters try a very lean model quietly on the side of your day job and see how you go- having your own business is a huge mission, and the business plan often needs tweaking- can help to try a lean start up http://theleanstartup.com/ type model before you take the plunge. We work in digital marketing/web design so this was particulalry helpful for us, however the lean principles can be applied to many other business ideas.
Good luck, go for it!