Are you thinking about entering the NDIS realm? With all the buzz around participant numbers, budget issues, and business struggles, it's essential to weigh your options carefully.
Here's what you should consider:
Research: Understand your competition, target audience, and potential advantages of serving underserviced areas.
ABN Registration: Getting an ABN offers tax deductions and other benefits crucial for small businesses.
Self-assessment: Evaluate your skills and limitations. Do you require more training?
Customer Understanding: Know your customer's needs and can you provide them.
If you're considering support coordination or starting a support business, you'll need to decide what type of business entity suits you best:
Sole Proprietorship: Operate under your ABN, with income and expenses declared on your personal tax return.
Partnership: Share workload and expenses with another person, while also sharing profits under a joint ABN.
Company: Register with ASIC, pay tax on net profits at a flat rate, and have a separate ABN for the company.
Should you become registered?
It's a decision requiring thorough consideration and research. Registration entails compliance with audits, registration processes, and associated costs. Starting as unregistered may be helpful initially, allowing you to gauge business growth before committing to registration.
Regarding GST and the NDIS:
If your turnover exceeds a certain threshold, GST registration is necessary. Determine if your income qualifies for GST-free status and file a Business Activity Statement (BAS) to report income, expenses, and payroll.
If you have employees, comply with PAYG withholding for tax deductions from wages and provide superannuation guarantee contributions.
Financial considerations:
Insurance, equipment purchases, and office space rental may be necessary expenses. Factor in taxes into your cash flow plan, as you're responsible for managing them independently.
Entering the NDIS sector can be rewarding but requires careful planning and understanding of regulatory and financial obligations.
The final factor is your time and how much you will devote to it before burning out. Remember that running any small business can be all consuming. You not only need to service your customers, but tackle the harsh reality of keeping records, compliance and updating with the NDIS.
The path down the NDIS business road is hard work, it requires attention to detail, motivation, and a willingness to increasing your knowledge every single day.
As with all hard work, it can be rewarding and for some that feeling of a job well down at the end of the day. One without mandated rules, KPI’s and that team leader who you are sure has a split personality can be the catalyst to starting your own business.
We wish you well, as always
The Lama Care Team
Comments