Business.vic.gov.au
Visit to the Victoria Business Centre
113 Exhibition Street, Melbourne
Starting a business can be exciting and yet the logistics you must step through can be quite daunting.
Even though I’ve set up a couple of business’s prior, they were ‘independent operator’ structures
that only required the registration of an ABN for trading under the business name within
the state I was operating in.
Currently we’re setting out on creating a Private Company that would have it’s own operating model as
well as being in part a holding company for other companies and partner ventures. As there
is a number of industries, services and models we wanted to investigate and create we decided
it would be great to drop into a Business Victoria Business Centre to get some inside information
and details on what’s the next step, what’s different, and what do we need to get right from the get-go.
I was incredibly disappointed with the manner of the ‘help person’ placed at the front desk.
Well, it was a desk floating among display channels, so I assume she was there to help. There was no sign indicating
her purpose so I take no blame if I’ve made an incorrect assumption.
Tip: Label your staff for walk-ins so it is clear as to their purpose both to the staff member and the customer. It saves time, false expectation and subsequent customer frustration.
The help person was actually not helpful at all. First of all her listening skills were inept.
I stated that many of the start-up courses listed online are booked out, and was wandering if
any new ones would be created to fill the demand? (un)Help person ” well you can view
all courses online”. No shit princess!! I just said I saw them online, but my question
was are any new ones coming up.
So it was obvious to me by her snarl and tone, she wasn’t worth my wasting time on. But I did
ask if we could register our company around the corner (as the sign above the hall clearly
said “Business registration”) I wanted to check, (un)help person says ” that’s consumer affairs”
Nothing else, nothing about why it’s signed Business registration, nothing about ‘what
are you looking for’, or even a little “how can i help?”
Just blunt, in-descript arrogant answers.
The fact is, on following up elsewhere is that the Business Registration section is for registering
your ABN within the state of Victoria. Important, even if we are registering a company (which is done with ASIC)
because if your trading name is different from your company name, than that name needs to
be registered.
For Example:
Company: Hairy (un)Helpful Hobbits Pty Limited may wish to brand and trade itself as
‘Helpful Hobbits’
Even though the hairy (un)helpful Hobbit at the city centre was not helpful and a waste
of my valuable time I did grab some great pamphlets on business plans, trade practices act, labelling care,
business mentoring services and start-up checklists.
All of which is available online at www.business.vic.gov.au. It is a good site, and seems
quite helpful with all its services, events bookings, downloads, and leads to other services.
Thank goodness for technology, we can save time not being looked down upon by hairy (un)helpful hobbits.
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