Ready to be your own boss? a guide to start your entrepeneurial dream

A STAND-OUT SME Quick Reference Poster myBusiness Singapore's largest online SME community portal Ready to be your own Boss? A guide to start your entrepreneurial dream Do you have the entrepreneurial spirit? Do you have the desire to break out and succeed on your own? Have you ever dreamt about being your own boss? The good news is that Singapore is one of the best places in the world to start a business! Besides the many government initiatives and institutional support groups designed to assist a wannabe entrepreneur, our regulatory requirements are simple and easy to understand – meaning it takes an average of just 3 days to get your business up and running!“ But even so, a million dollar idea alone isn't enough to get your business started. Here's a guide to get you started on realising your dream in a quick and painless manner. 1 WHAT'S YOUR BUSINESS STRUCTURE? Choosing your business structure is important as it can affect your liabilities, funds and management decisions. Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) Limited Company Private Limited (Pte Ltd) Sole - Partnership Proprietorship Partnership (LP) Minimum 2 partners: 1 general partner &1 limited partner Minimum of one share owned by one shareholder. Going in alone 2 – 20 partners Minimum 2 partners Least complicated setup requirements Partnership Agreement must be drawn up – detailing roles & responsibilities of each partner Legal entity (can sue or be sued, can own or hold property) General partner personally liable for debts and losses Most complicated setup requirements Owner personally accountable for all Members have limited Require Annual Declaration for debt Limited partner only liable for amount of liability – not personally liable for debts & losses risks, debts, losses Partners are agreed contribution of company Taxes due: accountable for all Partners not liable for risks, debts and losses - including those incurred by other debts and losses LP registration will be suspended if there is no limited partner personal income Taxes due: incurred by other corporate income partners partners Taxes due: Taxes due: Taxes due: personal + corporate personal + corporate personal income income income Registration cost with ACRA: $165 $315 $65 $65 $65 CHECKLIST BEFORE ACRA REGISTRATION After you've chosen the right business structure, you can register your business with the the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) – www.acra.gov.sg But before you do so, have you... 1. Met ACRA's Eligibility Requirement? For Sole-Proprietors, Partnerships, LLPS and LPs • Owner(s) must be aged 18 years or above • Singapore citizen / PR / Employment Pass or Dependent Pass holder (Foreigners can appoint a local manager) 2. Checked your Business Name Availability? • Have not been declared bankrupt (Undischarged bankrupts must receive court approval) Business names are not approved if its: • Identical to another on the registry (Search at ACRA's online directory of businesses) For Companies (Private and Public) • At least one director and one shareholder (can be the same person) • Obscene or contain vulgarities • Directors must be aged 18 years or above • Already reserved • Have not been declared bankrupts or convicted of dishonesty 3. Found your SSIC Code? • The Singapore Standard Industry Classification code (SSIC) is ACRA's way of categorising businesses 4. Found a Local Business Address? • Search for the right SSIC code using ACRA's online search engine • The location must be approved for business use by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) • P.O. boxes cannot be used as place of business 5. Cleared your Outstanding Medisave Liabilities? • Residential properties can only be used under the Home Office Scheme • You must first pay up your Medisave liabilities or have arranged for payment by instalments before starting your business *find out more about approved business locations at ura.gov.sg • Find out your outstanding Medisave liabilities 6. Applied for Necessary Licenses & Permits? from the CPF Board's website • Certain types of businesses such as private schools, childcare centres and video companies require licences and permits • Use the Online Business Lic (OBLS) to register your business and apply for licences and permits at one go Service YOU'RE READY TO REGISTER! www.acra.gov.sg 3. PICKING YOUR CORPORATE BANK ACCOUNT Which Bank should you choose? • Always check out deals with your existing bank first as they can easily validate your credit-worthiness as a client. • Most major banks in Singapore offer attractive features such as multi-currency accounts, Internet banking, credit cards, trade financing, freedom to move across countries and more. • If you're interested in apply for a bank loan, all 4 banks offer them specifically designed for individual customers. Contact them at the respective numbers to find out more. We've picked out 4 banks with the lowest financial requirements needed to start a corporate bank account. Standard Chartered OCBC DBS UOB Is there a start-up fee whenever I open a $0 $500 – $1,000 $0 $0 corporate account with banks? What is the minimum initial deposits that I need to put into my $500 $50,000 $10,000 $10,000 corporate account? What is the average $8,000 from the 6th month; or $25 monthly fee will apply $10,000; or $25 monthly fee will apply $10,000; or $25 monthly fee will apply $10,000; or $50 monthly fee will apply amount i need to maintain in my account to avoid monthly fees? Yes. For enquiries, local Yes. For Yes. For Yes. For payments and enquiries, local payments and enquiries, local enquiries, local Is there Internet overseas payments and payments and payments. One-time $50 Banking available? overseas overseas overseas payments payments payments set-up fee will apply How do I get 6538 1111 1800 222 2200 1800 226 6121 1800 743 3000 in touch? Disclaimer: Information correct as of July 31st, 2013. All information is provided for general knowledge purposes only and should not be seen as an endorsement for any banks or bank products. 4 GETTING ADDITIONAL FUNDING Apart from bank loans, you can also apply for grants and schemes from the government and financial institutions to get the funds needed to get your business off the ground. Here are the types of schemes available: Offered by Funding + Equity Financing Scheme SPRING Singapore Capital lent by investors in exchange for a share of ownership Maximum initial investment of $300,000, possibility of rising to $1 million + Cash Grants Action Community for Entrepreneurship Will match S$7 to every S$3 raised by an Business grants disbursed by different government agencies to fund start-ups across various industries entrepreneur for up to S$50,000 + Business Incubation Scheme $500,000 – $600,000 Receive funding and mentorship from industry specialists Innosight Ventures Pte. Ltd. and National Research Foundation + Tax Incentive Scheme Tax breaks offered to entrepreneurs Singapore government 0% tax on first S$100,000 of to build more companies and generate more jobs taxable income, and 8.5% tax rate on next S$200,000 of taxable income + Micro Loan Program Loans provided for SMES that have 10 or less employees for daily operations or for automating and upgrading factory and equipment Financial Institutions Up to S$100,000 with http://www.spring.gov.sg/ Enterprise/Loan/Pages/ micro-loan-programme.aspx minimum of 5.5% interest rate of loan tenture of 4 years and below GIVING YOUR BUSINESS A BOOST WITH CLOUD Ready to start living your dream? SingTel myBusiness can help you with a range of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) apps for your business needs. With no upfront hardware or software investment costs and no maintenance required, our Saas apps can assist you to manage your office operations, handle finance matters and even market your products! Best of all, most of the apps come with 30-day free trials and are claimable under the Productivity & Innovation (PIC) Scheme. Here's our pick of essential apps for your business: SingTel ONEOffice, powered by Google MecWise Payroll Manage your office communications efficiently through a suite of collaborative tools, including email, eFax, eSMS, ONEOffice Drive (to share files and documents) and ONEOffice Sites (for team projects). Managing your payroll is a breeze thanks to our 24/7 web access, fully automated processing and instant tracking system. Best of all, MecWise Payroll is easy to use, even without any technical knowledge, and is up to date with statutory regulations and tax laws built into the system. UNE MecWIse OFFICE Human Resource inturt. Web Builder QuickBooks Online QuickBooks Online Web Builder Need help with your bookkeeping? QuickBooks Online (compliant with IRAS accounting requirements) can track sales, expenses and profits within clicks, saving time on accounting so that you can focus on growing your business! Are you an HTML noob? Fret not thanks to our hosted web creation and content management system. With no programming required and over 70 professionally designed themes, you can start building your own website, without having to fork out for an expensive web designer! Also, with built-in search and analytics friendly features, you can immediately begin to understand who your online visitors are! Need more guidance on starting your own business? Visit SingTel myBusiness – Singapore's largest online SME community portal – to receive insights and opportunities for your business! https://mybusiness.singtel.com World Bank Doing Business Report http://www.doingbusiness.org/bizfile.gov.sg 2. ingtet myBusiness SOURCES: http://www.bizfile.gov.sg| http://www.acra.gov.sg| http://www.mom.gov.sg | http://www.enterpriseone.gov.sg Apps, Insights and Opportunities for your business.