Starting a business in BC: the order of operations

Most people starting a business in British Columbia do the steps in the wrong order. They design a logo before they know the name is available, buy a domain that doesn’t match the approved name, or open a bank account before the business legally exists. Each of these costs time or money to undo.

Here’s the order that avoids the rework.

1. Choose your structure

Everything else depends on this, so decide it first. The main choices:

• Sole proprietorship. One owner, who is self-employed, runs the business and takes on all of its liabilities personally.
• Partnership. Two or more people running a business together. In a general partnership, the partners are responsible for the business’s debts.
• Incorporated company. A separate legal entity, independent of its shareholders. It can own assets, take on debt, sign contracts, and sue or be sued in its own name.

The Province suggests getting advice from a chartered professional accountant or lawyer before you choose, and it’s worth it. Liability, tax and how you plan to grow all point in different directions.

2. Check your name everywhere, then get it approved

Before you fall in love with a name, check it in three places at once:

1. The business registry. Search existing BC and Canadian business names, and trademarks, to see if it’s already in use.
2. Domains. Is the .ca or .com you want available?
3. Social handles. Can you get the same name on the platforms you’ll use?

Then request approval. In BC, a business name needs a distinctive element (what sets it apart) and a descriptive element (what the business does). You’ll give three choices, ranked in order of preference.

A few details from the Province’s guidance that are easy to miss:

• Name approval comes before registration or incorporation.
• An approved name is held for 56 days. Register or incorporate before it expires, or you’ll need to submit a new request.
• Sole proprietors using their own name don’t need to request a name or register with the province.
• A numbered company (for example, a company named by its incorporation number) doesn’t need a name request.
• Only incorporated companies, cooperatives and societies get exclusive use of their name. A name approved for a sole proprietorship or partnership isn’t protected, and isn’t guaranteed to be approved if you incorporate later.

3. Register or incorporate

With an approved name, you can set the business up:

• Sole proprietorships and general partnerships register through the BC Business Registry online, or in person at a Service BC location.
• Companies incorporate through BC Registries. You’ll also need articles (the company’s rules for shareholders, directors and officers) and corporate records. This is where a lawyer earns their fee.

4. Your business number comes with it

The Canada Revenue Agency lists British Columbia among the provinces where registering or incorporating gives you a business number (BN), so you don’t need to apply for one separately. The BN is the number you’ll use with the CRA and other government programs. If you incorporate in BC, you also get a corporation income tax account.

5. Set up GST/HST and PST if they apply

• GST/HST. You must register once your taxable sales go over the CRA’s small supplier threshold across four consecutive calendar quarters. You can also register voluntarily before that. Ask your accountant whether registering early makes sense for you.
• PST. BC’s provincial sales tax has its own registration. Businesses located in BC that sell taxable goods or services generally need to register to collect it. Check the Province’s PST pages for whether your business does.
• Payroll. If you’ll hire employees, you’ll need a payroll account with the CRA.

6. Get the licences for where you operate

Provincial registration isn’t a business licence. Licences come from your city or local government. Check whether yours needs one for your type of business, including if you work from home. Some industries also need provincial or federal permits. Check with the municipality where you’ll operate before you open.

7. Open a business bank account and set up the books

Once the business exists on paper, open a bank account in its name and keep business money out of your personal account from day one. Pick bookkeeping software early, connect it to the bank account, and keep every receipt. Your accountant will thank you at year-end.

8. Lock in your domain, email and accounts, in the business’s name

Now that the name is approved and the business is registered, set up its online foundations properly:

• Register the domain to the business, in an account you control, on auto-renew. For a .ca, the registrant has to meet CIRA’s Canadian Presence Requirements, which a Canadian business or a Canadian citizen or permanent resident can meet.
• Set up email on your own domain, not a free address. It’s more trustworthy and it’s yours.
• Create your accounts under a business email: social profiles, Google Business Profile, payment processing, any software you’ll rely on.

Doing this after registration means the names match and every account is in the right legal name from the start.

What can run in parallel

The order above matters most at the start: structure, then name, then registration. After that, several things can happen side by side while you wait on processing times:

• While the name request is being processed, talk to your accountant about tax accounts, research your municipal licence, and draft the content for your website: what you sell, who it’s for, and the questions customers ask.
• While registration completes, compare banks and bookkeeping software, and write down every account you’ll need so none end up in a personal name.
• Once the name is approved, register the domain and handles straight away. A name that’s approved but not secured online can still be taken on the web.

Keep one written list of every step, who’s doing it and when it’s due. It turns a stack of government websites into a plan.

9. Brand and website last, not first

It’s tempting to start with a logo. Resist it until the name is approved and the business is set up. A brand built on a name you can’t register is a brand you’ll pay for twice. Once the foundations are in place, build the identity, then the website, on top of them.

None of these steps is hard on its own. Doing them in order is what saves you the reprinted cards, the second domain and the bank account in the wrong name.