London has a great business environment with easy access to all global markets. Starting your business in London is quite essential to establish a strong company foundation. Are you thinking of starting a new business in London? If yes, there are a number of steps to follow to set up your business in the right way. We have curated this step-by-step guide to help you kickstart your business in London without any hassle. So, without wasting any more time, let’s get started!
4 Steps To Kickstart Your Business In London
Step 1: Pick A Good Business Name For Your Online And Offline Establishment
Selecting the right name for your business is the first step when starting your business. You need to check its availability and ensure that it is both unique and memorable. The most important thing is you need to ensure that you can shortlist the perfect domain names according to your business name. This will help in aligning the name with your website and business goals for an amazing branding strategy.
Step 2: Decide Your Business Structure
Once the name and domain name are done, you need to choose your business structure. The options are shared below.
- Sole Trader: This structure includes only one person as the sole owner and operator of the entire business. He/she is literally responsible for everything from debts and profits to legal formalities. This is the most budget-friendly framework with full control over profits as your own personal income without the need to pay any corporate tax. The growth opportunities are quite limited here.
- Partnership: When two or more persons come together to build a business, a partnership is formed. In this structure, all partners share ownership as well as all profits and losses. They contribute a sum together for the business growth and all earned profits are taxed as their own personal income. The best part is its great ease of establishment and combined skillset. However, you still need to pay corporate tax.
- Limited Liability Partnership (LLP): Offering limited liability for partners, an LLP offers good partnership flexibility. It helps you get advantages of both partnership and limited companies. The best part is that the partners can easily tax all profits as personal income which means no corporation tax. Although it is a little more complex as well, the personal assets are always protected.
Step 3: Prepare All Documents And Register Your Company
Now it’s time to move further towards registering your company and getting all the necessary paperwork ready. For all partnerships and LLPs, you need the shareholder agreements, Articles of Association, and Memorandum of Association. Also, get proper documents for your business name, registered business address, directors, and structure. Once you get everything ready, you must go to Companies House which is the official companies’ registrar in the UK.
Step 4: Opt For Business License And Bank Account
You now have to apply for any required permit or license as per your business nature. Also, opening a separate bank account for business helps separate all business accounts from personal ones. This will also help in ensuring compliance with different accounting and taxation regulations.
The Bottom Line
By now, you must have got all the details about starting a business in London in detailed steps. All you have to do is go through them and implement them to get the best business established in no time. We are sure that this guide will become your one-stop guide for all doubts about beginning your new business in London.
