The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) have joined together to develop a new mobile app for young Australians starting a small business.
The free app, First Business, provides practical tips, checklists, case studies and links to additional information relating to developing and running a small business.
The Chair of ASIC, Greg Medcraft said the Commission’s vision was to allow markets to fund the real economy and economic growth.
“Small businesses play an essential role in this and account for around 45 per cent of employment and 35 per cent of output nationally,” Mr Medcraft said.
“We also know that a large number of new sole trader and micro-businesses are started by young adults.”
He said a lack of business knowledge, experience and planning were some of the challenges they faced when starting out.
Mr Medcraft said ASIC wanted to support young people to be successful in business by providing access to tools and resources to build their financial capability and help them with the financial decisions they would need to make.
He said key features of the app included a business health check to help young people decide whether they were ready to start a business; a checklist to assist with ongoing obligations, including registrations, licences, tax and superannuation responsibilities, and legal requirements; and business case studies including advice on what could go wrong and how to avoid this.
Mr Medcraft said the Commission’s First Business app was available now on the App Storeand Google Play.
Source: http://www.psnews.com.au/aps/539/news/free-start-up-app-gets-down-to-business
