Most new businesses in the region begin with a question to a neighbour: who handles your bookkeeping? Do I need a permit for this? Is there funding for people starting out? It is a sound instinct. The Petite-Nation is small enough that someone always knows someone.
A question to a neighbour, however, is not a plan. Having just started a business here this summer, we have the process fresh in mind, and this is the checklist we would give anyone opening a business in the MRC de Papineau. It is practical guidance, not legal advice. For anything with tax or legal consequences, consult an accountant or the relevant government office.
Who should you talk to first?
The MRC's economic development team. Before registering anything, signing a lease or buying equipment, contact the MRC.
The MRC de Papineau has business advisors whose role is to support entrepreneurs in the territory with their projects. They know the local loans and grants, the regional programs, the people worth meeting, and often the pitfalls of a particular location or type of business. The consultation is free. Too many entrepreneurs learn about a program only after spending the money it would have covered.
Bring a rough written outline: what you want to sell, to whom, where, and approximately what you need to get started. The more concrete the outline, the more useful the conversation.
How do you register a business in Quebec?
The rules depend on the form of business you choose.
Sole proprietorship
If you operate under your own first and last name, registration may not be required. If you use a name that does not include your first and last name, such as "Rénovations du Lac," you must register with the Registraire des entreprises within 60 days of starting. You will receive a Quebec enterprise number, the NEQ, which appears on many forms thereafter. A registration fee applies.
Corporation or partnership
Incorporating, or forming a partnership, involves more paperwork and different obligations. We recommend an hour with an accountant before deciding, since the choice affects taxes, liability and how you can pay yourself.
The Registraire des entreprises du Québec site provides the forms, the fees and clear explanations for each type of business. It is also where you can verify that the name you want is not already in use, a step worth taking before printing anything or buying a domain name.
Sales taxes
In Quebec, Revenu Québec administers both the GST and the QST for most businesses. As long as taxable sales remain at $30,000 or less over four consecutive calendar quarters, a business is generally considered a small supplier and registration is optional. Beyond that threshold, registration and tax collection are mandatory. Some businesses register voluntarily from the start in order to recover the taxes paid on their own purchases. Your accountant can advise which option suits your situation.
Which local rules should be checked?
Municipal zoning and permits. This is the step that most often catches entrepreneurs off guard.
Each municipality has its own zoning and permit rules. The building you have in mind may not be zoned for a restaurant. A home-based business may require a permit. A roadside sign may require approval. Contact the municipal office before signing anything. In the Petite-Nation, the person who answers often knows the file thoroughly, and a ten-minute call can save months.
Insurance and a separate business bank account should also be in place from the first day. Mixing personal and business funds is one of the most common problems in small businesses, and it is difficult to untangle at tax time.
How should funding be approached?
Carefully. Programs for new businesses exist at every level: the MRC, the province, the federal government, and organizations that lend to young entrepreneurs. Some offer loans, others grants, and many require a personal financial contribution.
We offer two recommendations. First, do not build a business around a grant; build a business that works, then identify the programs that fit it. Second, applications take time and require a genuine plan with real figures. This is beneficial, since it requires thinking the project through. For support with this step, we offer assistance with funding applications.
How should the first 90 days be planned?
On a single page. A small business does not need a fifty-page business plan to open, but it does need a written outline of the first three months.
That page should state the goal for the first 90 days in one sentence; who the first customers are and how they will hear about the business; the cost of opening and of operating each month; the approximate weekly activities; and the figure that would indicate success, as well as the figure that would signal a change of course.
Review it every week, and revise it when reality differs. A plan that fits on the refrigerator gets used; a long one gets filed. If a lender requires a full plan, the one-page version becomes its backbone, and we can help develop the complete business plan from there.
When should a new business go online?
Before opening day, not after.
The weeks before opening are when people begin asking about a business: when it opens, where exactly, what it will sell. If they search and find nothing, the business loses the easiest attention it will ever receive.
- Create and verify your Google Business Profile as soon as you have an address and a phone number. Verification can take some time.
- Publish a simple landing page in French and English: what, where, opening date, and how to reach you.
- Secure your business name as a domain and on the one or two social networks your customers actually use.
- Start an email list, even a small one, with the people who ask questions. They are your first customers.
Opening day is far more successful with a few people already waiting at the door. In a small region, that group begins with the people who found the business online and told a neighbour.