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henrykay
07-28-2009, 02:14 AM
Hi guys,

A brief introduction of myself:

I am a 26 years old Male from Singapore, i have a business idea for a while now and i am interested in starting the business. However, it might be just me but it seems that although information may seem abundant in the internet but it seems that they are very general.

Would anyone be so kind as to provide me with some advice for the queries that i have?

1) As the market in singapore are already saturated, i am interested in starting my business oversea for example in Canada or UK. Is it possible for a foreigner like me to purchase a property in country like Canada or UK for business usage?

2) The business idea that i have is concerning health matter which i myself have much experience with, what kind of license do i have to obtain in order to start my business?

3) How do i gauge what is the starting capital that i need? Some of the factor that i need to factor in are cost of labor, cost of stock, advertising, market research (demand and competition) and cost of operation. Is there some sort of checklist that i can check to see if i have miss out something that i need to factor in for my starting capital.

4) Last but not least, i know a good business plan is the key to securing loan be it from bank or other financial institute. I have check online for sample business plan that i can take reference to but it seems like most of the sample i found doesn't seem very attractive. Is there a website or link that i can visit to practice on how to produce a quality business plan .

Thanks in advance for any advice given.

vangogh
07-28-2009, 12:08 PM
Hi Henry. I'm not sure I'll be able to answer your questions, but I'll try.

1. I don't see any reason why you couldn't purchase property in either Canada or the U.K. I wouldn't know how you go about doing it, but I would think you could. Maybe one of our members from either country will be able to tell you more.

2. Without knowing more I doubt anyone here can answer. My guess is this will be dependent on what country you operate in and you'll have to find out through proper channels within the country.

3. Again hard to answer without know the details of your business. What I would do is list everything you can think of that you'll need to start your business and do your best to figure out what each will cost. Then assume you've missed a few things and bump up the total 10-20% or something realistic.

4. When I started my business I found these sample business plans (http://www.bplans.com/sample_business_plans.cfm). I don't know how well they compare to others, but they did seem to have all the basics. If you check the link for sample plans you'll see they also have sample marketing plans as well as outlines and templates for business plans.

Hope that helped.

nighthawk
07-28-2009, 01:51 PM
henry,

with regards to point one, do you intend to move to the UK and run the business? If so then you will need to gain a UK working visa. I am not sure what is involved in this though, I would imagine you probably need a guaranteed job, and your stay would be linked to you keeping that job, although it may vary depending on country of origin. I think this would make it impossible to set up a UK based business.

However it may be possible to set up the business in Singapore and trade in the UK, or perhaps franchise and have a UK partner run the UK side of things, but you would still be barred from working for the UK side unless you had a working visa.

billbenson
07-28-2009, 06:46 PM
To get a good answer, I think we need some more information. If you are selling in the UK, do you plan on relocating or to travel there? How much inventory will you need to store. Do you plan on using a drop shipper in the UK or warehouse and have a staff or perhaps your supplier will drop ship so you have none of these issues?

henrykay
07-29-2009, 07:34 AM
hi guys,

Thank you for all the replies,

seems like i am lacking some information regarding my business idea, heres a little information regarding what i intend to do.

I am planning to start a weight-loss fitness centre. A stay-in weight-loss fitness centre to be exact. My target audience will be the increasing overweight population, mainly targeting the younger population. I believe that most of you will agree with me that the younger population now are more prone to overweight and dieases related to obesity. Of course, it is not limited to the young, all the other age are welcome ^^.

vangogh
thank you for the link. i will read it up ^^

nighthawk / billbenson
i do intend to relocate to the country that i intend to set up the business although the location i still haven't decided yet. Might it be possible that i set up a HQ in singapore and at the targeted country as a branch?
Basically all the inventory will be kept at the centre which i think should solve the problem of inventory. Since i am offering service, that eliminate the need for shipping.


Once again , thank you all for the replies ^^

vangogh
07-29-2009, 11:23 AM
Henry I think everything you want to do is going to be possible. The issues will be specific to the country you decide to move to and I'm guessing you'll need to get in touch or find the information from immigration within the country.

Here's something I found for getting a work visa in the U.K. (http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/howtoapply/infs/inf13workpermitholders)

And here's similar for working in Canada (http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/inFORMation/applications/work.asp)

And here's a general site called workpermit.com (http://www.workpermit.com/), which seems to have general information about working in several countries, including the U.K. and Canada.

The sites above may be talking more about you getting a job in the country in question as opposed to setting up a business in that country, but they probably can point you in the right direction.

If you can't find the information you want in the above sites, try some searches for 'starting a business in Canada as a foreigner' and 'starting a business in UK as a foreigner' These might lead you to information about how you would start in business in either country with a home office in Singapore.

Patrysha
07-29-2009, 12:53 PM
I would advise great research and caution in getting involved in that industry especially for a stay in center your liability insurance will be high and you may need a doctor on staff to meet regulations depending on the intended treatment. You'll have to really work on your marketing materials...not only to reach your target market but to make sure the statements follow health advertising regulations.

henrykay
07-30-2009, 05:16 AM
vangogh

Wow that's quite a number of useful link you've given me. it helped me a lot in searching for the information i need.

Patrysha

i understand your concern and that is one of my concern too.
one of the plans that i have to ensure the health and safety of my customer-to-be, was to have a initial health check to determine their fitness and health level before they are accepted to the individual level of program. And the health being of the customer will be the top priority.

vangogh
07-30-2009, 02:27 PM
Glad I could help Henry. If you need more try the searches I suggested. I think those were the ones I used to find the sites I linked to. I'm sure there are plenty more sites that will be helpful, though it might take some time to find them and do the research.

henrykay
07-30-2009, 07:58 PM
cool, now I'm listing out whatever i can think related to my business idea and then i will try to fit it into the business plan

cheers ^^

henrykay
08-02-2009, 04:51 AM
A side question, what if i base my business in Singapore (training centre). Then i advertise my business over the world and fly the member over to singapore for training.

i am wondering, since i made the deal in other country, but conduct training in singapore. Which country am i eliglble for taxation ?

Evan
08-02-2009, 03:52 PM
Advertise your business all over the world? How are you doing that? Just because your website attracts people from all over the world doesn't necessarily mean you're doing business "all over the world" and need to register in every country.

henrykay
08-02-2009, 08:26 PM
Evan

Thanks for the reply. being oversea from my view meaning having a office there and registering the business at that particular country.

vangogh
08-03-2009, 01:42 AM
If you flew everyone into Singapore I'd say you're doing business in Singapore. It's not so much about where your clients/customers are from, but more about where you're located. I suppose it could depend on the laws of the country in question, but my guess is you'd be taxed in Singapore only.

henrykay
08-03-2009, 07:28 AM
why i have this query is because payment would be made at that particular country, then they will be flew to singapore for training . money was exchange at the particular country where the training is conducted in singapore . hahaha so i am getting confuse over the tax matter

vangogh
08-03-2009, 11:59 AM
How would you be collecting money? Do you mean when people pay, they'd be paying someone who worked for you in that particular country? Would they pay online or over the phone?

henrykay
08-03-2009, 10:43 PM
i would have a someone working at the particular country collecting the money as there will be a store doing the advertising.

vangogh
08-04-2009, 11:00 AM
Then you might be considered as doing business in that country. It sounds like there will be a physical presence in the country so I'm guessing the country will want to collect taxes. Just a guess on my part though. I would think you'd need to check official channels in each country to know for certain.

henrykay
08-05-2009, 09:24 PM
thanks, i'll try to find out more and let you guys know the result ^^

vangogh
08-06-2009, 12:10 AM
Do let us know. This isn't our typical kind of discussion here so it will be good to gain some knowledge about doing business internationally.

henrykay
08-07-2009, 10:49 AM
although it's not a official answer, i asked my uni lecturer regarding this question. He told me that the venue that you provide the service will be the place where you will be eligible for tax.

vangogh
08-07-2009, 11:03 AM
Interesting. I would have thought a physical presence was the determining factor, which maybe is what your lecturer means by the venue where you provide the service. If that's the case then it makes sense you'd be taxed where the venue is.

henrykay
08-07-2009, 09:49 PM
yup thats exactly what he said .

there are some more interesting facts that he mentioned to me. For singapore, i thot it's 1 year below 1 million net profit that you are free from tax but from what he told me, its 3 year below 2 million net profit. so at least for the next 3 years no need to worry about taxation.

complete about 1/6 of my business plan now ^^

Evan
08-08-2009, 04:17 PM
The venue you provide the service is in Singapore. His answer seems consistent with mine.

Your physical presence is in Singapore. Having a website, for example, to encourage people to start a new franchise of your Sinapore XYZ company in another country seems to make sense that the transaction is taking place in Singapore. Not the United States, Ireland, or wherever these prospective customers are from. You are conducting the sale from Singapore.

Now if they start an operating in the USA, then yes they are liable for taxes to the US government.

I don't understand how any other government could legitimately "tax" you when they have no interest in the matter. If I decided to fly out there for training, how is the United States going to collect taxes from you? You are not a citizen, and we'll assume never have been here. There is no basis or jurisdiction that would allow for them to do so.

Companies with international operations have a physical presence in these countries, thereby subjecting them to taxation.

vangogh
08-09-2009, 05:16 AM
Evan a few posts back Henry mentioned he would have people in the other countries physically present to collect money. I'm not sure if that would constitute a physical presence, but I can see how it could be argued that it would be a physical presence.

Paul Elliott
08-13-2009, 11:01 PM
A side issue, Henry ... You could offer it as a travel package to Singapore and surrounding countries with the spa concept. That way you could get a broader appeal.

Paul

henrykay
08-16-2009, 08:36 PM
hmm, a travel package to singapore and surrounding country, wouldn't it be consider as a tourist related business ? if it does, there might be more license to acquire for it.