Steve asked:

I was thinking about starting a in skate boarding park in Halifax and I was wondering what advise you would have.

Julie King answered:

Dear Steve,

Thank you for writing to CanadaOne.

Congratulations on your interest in starting a business! I would suggest that you start by building a rough outline/plan of what you would like to do. This can be quite informal, and should cover both the interesting and the mundane aspects of starting the business.

As part of the planning process you will want to do a first year budget as well - how much money will you need for equipment/construction? What about staffing, insurance, business registration and permits? Don't forget the basic office expenses and you might want to budget for the design of a logo / "identity" that will generate interest in your new business.

As you get started you will probably find it helpful to browse through some of the articles in our Starting a Business Guide - topics include things like choosing a name, registering a business in NS, etc.:
http://www.canadaone.com/tools/startingabusiness.html

You may also want to drop by Open For Business, which is a centre that helps get businesses off the ground. They are located at 1521 Grafton Street in Halifax and you can also reach them via phone/web:
Phone: (902) 424-3707
Web site: www.ofbnetwork.com

Something that I found very useful when I started my business was that I did a "SWOT" analysis on myself. A SWOT analysis looks at the strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to a company. This helped me identify the things I could do myself, and where I would need to hire additional help.

There are some government programs available on the east coast that you will want to investigate as well. OFB should be able to help you there.

Good luck!

Julie King

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