How To Start A Business In India? Definitive Guide

Are you curious about to start your own business in India? You don’t want to work under anyone and want to become your own boss.

Then this definitive guide is for you. I have included everything you need-

from setting up your own business
procedure to start a company in India
and entire legal formalities you require to start a business in India
how to get a business licence in India
and documents required for starting a business in India

Do you know that according to the research of IBM And Oxford Study 94% Indian startup fails within the first five years? And they stated that the main reasons behind these failures is lack of pioneering innovation and not hiring the right team.

So for a successful business your passion, competition in the market and your business plan is crucial at the initial stage. Let’s dive deep to more learn about to start a business in India.

Here are some steps to consider when starting a business in India:

Choose a business idea: Consider your skills and the industry you want to enter. You can research business ideas online.
Create a business plan: Include details about your business, sales forecast, and target audience.
Conduct market research: This can help you identify past problems and reduce future risks.
Determine your finances: Consider funding options, including family and friends.
Register your business: Check the availability of your desired company name online. You can register your business under the “Startup India” scheme to take advantage of government benefits.
Obtain necessary licenses: For example, a food business needs an FSSAI license from the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India.
Open a bank account: You’ll need a Permanent Account Number (PAN) and a Taxpayers Identification Number.
Decide on a location: You can start your business at home, in a shop, stall, workshop, or office.
Promote your business: Aggressive marketing is important in India’s competitive business environment.

How to Start with a Small Business

Identify a Business Idea. Before taking any steps, it’s essential to identify a sound business idea. …
Research your Business Idea. …
Create a Business Plan/ Pitch. …
Identify Target Market. …
Secure Financing. …
Establish Business Strategy. …
Select a Business Name. …
Complete the Registration Process.

Starting a business in India involves several steps. Here’s a comprehensive guide to help you navigate the process:

1. Research and Planning

Identify Your Business Idea: Choose a product or service that you are passionate about and that has market demand.
Market Research: Analyze the market, competitors, and target audience. Understand the legal and regulatory requirements for your business type.

2. Choose a Business Structure

Sole Proprietorship: Easy to set up and manage, but the owner has unlimited liability.
Partnership: Involves two or more people sharing profits and responsibilities.
Limited Liability Partnership (LLP): Combines features of partnerships and companies; limits liability for partners.
Private Limited Company: A separate legal entity with limited liability; requires at least two directors and two shareholders.
Public Limited Company: Suitable for larger businesses; can raise capital by issuing shares to the public.

3. Register Your Business

Choose a Name: Ensure the name is unique and not already in use.
Register with the Registrar of Companies (RoC): For companies, complete the necessary documentation and file for registration.
Obtain Necessary Licenses and Permits: Depending on your business type, you may need specific licenses (e.g., GST registration, FSSAI for food businesses).

4. Open a Business Bank Account

Choose a bank and open a dedicated business account to manage finances separately from personal accounts.

5. Set Up Accounting and Financial Systems

Accounting Software: Use accounting software to manage your books, track expenses, and generate financial statements.
Hire an Accountant: Consider hiring a professional to help with taxation and compliance.

6. Create a Business Plan

Outline your business goals, strategies, target market, financial projections, and operational plans.

7. Funding Your Business

Self-Funding: Use personal savings to start your business.
Loans: Apply for business loans from banks or financial institutions.
Investors: Seek funding from angel investors or venture capitalists.

8. Marketing and Promotion

Develop a Brand: Create a strong brand identity (logo, website, etc.).
Online Marketing: Utilize social media, SEO, and online ads to reach your target audience.
Networking: Attend industry events, trade shows, and local business meetups to build connections.

9. Compliance and Regulations

Ensure you comply with all legal requirements, including tax filings, labor laws, and industry regulations.

10. Launch Your Business

Plan a launch event or campaign to promote your business and attract customers.

Conclusion

Starting a business in India requires careful planning, research, and compliance with legal requirements. Stay informed about market trends and be adaptable to changes. If you have specific questions about any of the steps or need further guidance, feel free to ask!

Start A Business In India

Starting a business in India is not the hardest part then keeping it running successfully. The Indian government also encourages individuals to start their own business. Now the government also knows that small businesses are the backbone of Indian Economy.

You can apply for loan to start a business in India at a lower rate of interest.

In this article you will learn,

What do you need to Start Your Business In India?
How to register your business in India?
What are the Tax Registrations you need in India?

Do these things before you start a business In India

1: Find Your Passion

Before starting any business make sure you have an interest in it. Passion is the fuel to keep you working all the time. Your Passion will keep you up even if you feel bored or hate it. You feel a strong positive emotion towards your work.

Finding your passion is important if you want to live your dreams.

When you are working with your passion you have great enthusiasm, you don’t count the number of hours you work and you get lost into your work.

You don’t care about challenges, you are ready to take risks to become better at your work.

Business is the kind of thing in which you have to work day and night. You’re not on a 9 to 5 job.

Your employees have the freedom to work 8 hours only. But not to the business owner.

Business is all built upon the customer’s demand and happiness. If you don’t have your personal interest in your work then how can you be able to provide satisfaction to your customer.

So choose that field only, in which you are really ready to put your life and don’t feel lazy when you work.

2: Research and Study Competition To Start A Business

If you have found your passion, now you are ready to research and find competition in your field.

Understanding your competition in your field is a crucial aspect for any business activity.

Also Know this in advance, is it a demanding business in your area?

Does not matter what kind of business you are going to start, researching about the competition is always important.

You have to anticipate what your targeted customers are and competitive companies in your business field.

Find out in advance that there are enough people who can buy your product or service.

Research about the companies that already provide the same service as you are going to. Keeping eyes on your competitor is a great strategy to grow your business.

This does mean you are spying on your competitor, you just want to provide better services than them.

Search for the market gaps, find in which your competitors are lacking so you can provide better service. Also find what your customer wants and their unmet consumer needs.

If your business is on a large scale and you do not know much about your competition. Then you can search Google, check the latest trends in the market using Google Trends.

Check the social network of your opponent. If required, subscribe to their newsletter if they have any to get a better understanding of how they are running their business.

You can even directly ask your (future) customer or conduct a survey that what they need and how you can solve their problem.

3: Make A Business Plan Before You Start A Business In India

Before taking any further step to start a business in India, make a business plan first. This point is also the same as the research, but in this, you research about your own business rather than your opponent.

Business Plan is serves as a road map that provides direction to the business. This is the document of your business’s future.

Business plan must be convincing for your lenders, investors and most importantly it convinces and satisfies you deeply. Because all your time, money and efforts are on the stake.

In this, you create a document of your business that describes your plan and strategies. Along with the information on how you are going to implement these plans to get desired results.

You put all the details on your business plan about your product or services you are going to provide. And how your product or services are helpful for your customer.

It provides concrete, factual evidence showing your idea for a business and sounds reasonable and has a high chance of success.

Its should includes:

A brief description of your products and services
Summary of objectives
A view of growth potential
An overview of funding requirements

These were the most important points that must be included in your Business Plan.

A clearly written business plan helps you to attract more investors and also helpful if you need a bank loan.

My Advice To start a Small Business

If you are going to start a small business in India. Then it’s better not to take loans from the bank or pull any investor toward your business.

Instead of these options you can ask for your family, friends who can invest into your idea.

Because If you suffer heavy losses in your business then it becomes hard to return the loan to banks.

After starting a business if you think you are in a good position and all your strategies are working, then you can think about the bank loans.

4: Calculate Your Business Cost

Having an idea about your business cost is beneficial for you. With this, you know how much capital needs to invest in your business.

One of the good reasons for Calculating Your Business Cost is that you get the estimate of how much capital you require to start a venture, so you never get out of resources

1: Calculate the cost of your assets- Assets are long term investment and you always need. For example, if you are starting a salon business that might include tables, chairs, mirrors, scissors, combs, hairdryer and other long term assets.

Other assets like you also need land to build a salon. So, calculate them in advance.

List spending on expenses- These expenses are not long term assets but are monthly or yearly based. Like the money you spend on building your website is a yearly expense and the salary of your employee is a monthly expense.

And other expenses like the costs of fixing up your office or other tax registration.

Money You Need for the First Year- This includes the money you need in your bank for the first year. Because your business might not be able to produce many sales in the first year. So to cover these expenses you need some insurance, like cash in your bank.

5: Find Perfect Location to start a business

Location is where you establish your business. A right or wrong chosen location can impact your cost and revenue.

Your startup must be in the right location, where you can easily get most of your customers. Your business must be located where the population of the city directly connects with your services or products.

Sometimes a competition is beneficial because you don’t need to drive customers by your own.

Why spend much money on advertisements when you have the option to steal other businesses customers, by providing more value to them.

When choosing location keep in mind that-

Staff is easily available
There must be a Transportation facility
Check the Price of the property
Customer can easily connect with your business
Infrastructure – Like the quality of water, gas, electricity etc.

6: Manage Accounting System for you business

If you want to manage your accounting and business is not big enough then you can handle this part by yourself.

Usually an accounting person is who calculates the cost of every aspect in your business. His duty is to track every expense, how much you spent and the salary of the employees.

He monitors and analyzes accounting data and produces financial reports or statements.

It’s better to hire an Account manager for large businesses.

7: make a Business Team Before You Start A Business In India

A team is made of two to more people who work together to achieve a specific goal. Building a team means finding people with the same interest and mix of professional skills.

Always find a team who can devote everything to put your business ahead of the market.

Look for people who are efficient and happy to work with your business. Then a large list of people it’s better to choose only 3 to 4 first then talk to them.

Talk about the atmosphere you want in your business
Talk about your future plans
Use ‘we’ instead of ‘I’ while explaining about your business
Find if they have any experience already
Do they can work in teams
Are they positive enough

If they are curious enough to work and have great enthusiasm for your idea. Then you can think about working with them.

Note: 70% of venture capitalists believe that startups fail in India because they fail to hire the right kind of people.

So, to start a new company in India, hire your team people wisely, don’t take any risk and choose your team in haste.

You’ll Like: How To Start A Blog In India? Ultimate Guide

Register Your Business In India

After doing all kinds of important work and after taking every decision. Like finding your passion, building a business plan and after choosing your team.

When you start a business in India, it’s also important to register your business.

If you need funding for your business then registration is important. Otherwise not any investor will invest in your business idea.

Registration is important so you don’t face any penalty for doing a business without informing the government of india.

So registration is important whether it’s a small business or on a large scale.

Choose a name for your Business

Your Business name is your brand, so it must be short and easy to remember.
You want anyone to think about ice cream if your business is about cars. (Hope you understand my point).
Your business name must be unique, otherwise there will be a penalty over someone’s claim. You don’t want it to happen when you spend a lot of money on your business.
Check the availability of the domain name of your business. If you also need a website on it.

Types Of Business Registrations In India

Sole Proprietorship
One person company (OPC)
Pvt Ltd Company
Limited Liability Partnership (LLP)

1: Sole Proprietorship

If you want control over your business, then this registration serves the deal. With this registration you are solely responsible for the profit and losses in your business.

You are the only proprietor of your business. The other good news about it is that it’s the easiest method to register your business legally.

Sole Proprietorship is helpful for small business owners such as salons, shops, and for other types of small businesses.

Advantages of Sole Proprietorship

All profit is yours, of course loss also
No government registration is needed
No government regulatory paperwork
You have to pay income tax only on your income (only if its higher)
Registration fees might be 1 thousand rupees only and it takes 1 to 2 days for registration

How to Register For Sole Proprietorship?

For the registration of this, you need to go to your local authority with these documents-

Aadhaar card
PAN card
Bank account
Registered office proof (rental agreement or utility bills will require)

If you live in an urban area then you have to go to the municipality and for a small town area you have to go to the gram panchayat for registration and you are good to go.

2: One person company (OPC)

An OPC(One Person Company) allows a single person to incorporate and run a business. OPC was introduced by the Indian government in the Companies Act 2013, which allows everyone to start a business or company in India.

Before this act every company needs to register as an OPC, and needs two directors for a company. But with this act only one person can run a whole company.

Other advantages of OPC

Lesser Documentation required then private limited
Complete control of the company
Makes it easier to get loans from banks
Only director is required
You are not personally liable for all the losses if they occur.

With OPC your company name will be like “yourcompanyname pvt.ltd (OPC)”.

How To Register For OPC?

Obtain Digital Signature Certificate (DSC)- It is the electronic format of paper certificate like a driving License, passport etc.

Obtain Director Identification Number (DIN)- It is a 8 digit number allotted by the Central Government to the person who wants to become a director of the company. DIN has never ending- lifetime validity.

Apply for Name Approval- Approve your company name with the “(OPC) Private Limited” mark, like “ABC (OPC) Private Limited”.

Documents required For OPC:

Memorandum of Association (MoA)
Articles of Association (AOA)
Proof of registered office
Affidavit and consent of director
A declaration that all compliances have been made File all forms with the Ministry of.
Corporate Affairs (MCA)
Collect your certificate of Incorporation

Registration process is the same as the Sole Proprietorship. Application fees for OPC is nearly 5500 and it takes 5-10 days for approval.

3: Pvt Ltd Company

To start a Private Limited Company, you need two at least directors and two shareholders to form a company in india.

To form a private limited company, at least 2 members are required and maximum 50 members are allowed.

It’s a Private Limited Company so it doesn’t have the right to collect the funding from the public. If they can’t raise the funding from the public then it also cannot publicly issue the shares.

Benefits of a Private Limited Company

The shares of the company are easily transferable to the other person.
There are more tax benefits in LTDs

How to register a Private Limited Company?

Digital Signature Certificate– Passport size photograph, Self-attested Address proof, Self-attested PAN card of the applicant.
Obtain Directors Identification Number(DIN).
A name registration application needs to be filed.
You need to draft MOA and AOA. MOA states the objects of the company while AOA specifies the rules and regulations of the company.
Now file the application through SPICE-E form on MCA’s website and obtain PAN and TAN applications.

When all your papers are ready, you are done with the procedure of your application. Application fees for Private Limited Company is nearly 6500 and it takes 5-10 days for approval.

4: Limited Liability Partnership (LLP)

LLP businesses have more than one owner of the business. This kind of business is mainly run by two or more individuals.

Limited Liability Partnership is required when you are poriessional in your field. Like if you are a doctor, lawyer or engineer then you need to register through the LLP registration process.

With LLP you are not allowed to issue shares for your company. With LLC all the partners have limited liabilities which means each partner is not responsible for another partner’s negligence.

Benefits of LLP

Easy to start
Can be two or more owners of business
Minimum money is required to start
Low Registration Cost

Documents Required for LLP Registration in India

Documents of Partners– Address and residence proof, photograph.
Passport– In case of NRI.
Proof of Registered Office Address
Digital Signature Certificate – All the documents digitally signed by the authorised signatory.

Tax Registration For Business In India

Tax Registration is mandatory when you start a business in India. Not only for businesses but also for every person with higher income.

There are the four types of mandatory tax registrations for every type of business in India.

However, for small businesses only GST and MSME is required.

1: GST Registration

GST was launched on 1 July 2017 by the President of India. Businesses whose turnover is more than 40 lakhs per year, they need to register with GST. This process of registration is called GST registration. If you do business without the registration of GST then it’s illegal and results in high penalties.

Document For GST Registration

PAN card
Proof of Business Registration identity
Photographs and address proof of persons in charge
Business Address Proof
Bank Account Statements.

GST Registration only takes 2 to 6 days to process your application.

2: ESI Registration

Employee State Insurance Registration is required if your business has more than 10 employees working.

ESI applies to all types of industry whether it’s a small shop, establishment or factories.

It’s kind of insurance run by the Government which is more than medical insurance.

Benefits Of ESI Registration

It covers you with-

Sickness
Maternity
Unemployment
Death
Free medical treatments

So you can focus on your work or business without worrying about your medical insurance.

3: PF (Provident Funds)

This registration is required when your business has more than 20 employees working.

4: MSME Registration

Medium Small and Micro Enterprises is beneficial for your business. Every small business when it gets short of resources then they can apply for MSE loans. It is helpful for getting loans at cheaper interest, easy and hassle free with quick approval .

Benefits Of MSME

Easy to get loans
Tax Subsidies
Assumption Schemes
Upto 50% off on tenders
Protection for delayed payments

This is optional, but when you start a business in India, these are the schemes are lot more effective for your business.

In Conclusion

So this was the guide on How To Start A Business In India. I try to explain everything from top to bottom you need in stating a business.

As India is growing rapidly, starting your own startup in India is more beneficial. Also you get more help from the government as indian government also encourages young people to start their own business.

Now Small Businesses are the backbone of every nation.

All the explained points are required of you before starting your own company in India. Does not matter if this big company or a small business, you can follow each and every step. I have tried to explain everything, but still if you face any difficulty you can comment below to search for the point on Google for deep knowledge into any topic.