READOS / Business
Starting, Funding and Structuring a Business
From the first idea and business structure to funding, co-founders, protection and building a business that outlasts its founder.
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- 01The four stages of a start-up: what matters at the idea, MVP, growth and maturity stagesWhat founders should focus on at each stage: crisp ideas backed by data, MVPs proven by repeat buyers who are strangers, density-led growth, avoiding arrogance and building discipline.
- 02From student to founder: the 18-month rule, minimum viable products, traction and first fundingA practical path for students and graduates who want to start a business: test yourself through work, validate in 18 months, build an MVP, win first customers and raise funding carefully.
- 03From freelancer to business: starting solo, finding clients, pricing, contracts and growing beyond yourselfA practical guide for freelancers and solo professionals: choosing what to offer, setting up, managing time, contracts and money, building a client portfolio, pricing, quiet periods and scaling up.
- 04What successful founders do differently: customer empathy, shared capital, affordable innovation and integrityTen founder lessons from Indian business case studies: act decisively, anticipate customer needs, share capital and risk, tell your story, price for the many, stay unique and honest.
- 05Build in the right order: problem, prospect, people, product, positioning, process, profit and purposeWhy many business problems come from doing things out of sequence, and an eight-step order for building or fixing a business, from the customer's problem through to scaling, profit and purpose.
- 06Choosing a business structure in Australia: sole trader, partnership, company or trustStructure shapes control, personal exposure, tax, paperwork and what happens when owners change. How to compare the four common structures, avoid myths and know when to revisit it.
- 07What a company structure does not protect: guarantees, personal duties and the obligations nobody listsLimited liability decides who is reached first when something goes wrong, not whether you are reached. Where owners stay exposed and how to keep a simple register of what you have signed.
- 08Naming a business or product: choosing a name customers remember and you can legally useHow to choose a business, product or brand name: start from values and customers, explore name types, test candidates, and check business name, trade mark and domain availability in Australia.
- 09Trade marks for small businesses: why register your brand, how protection works and common mistakesWhy a registered trade mark matters: exclusive rights, trust, asset value, licensing and franchising, action against copycats, overseas protection and how registration works in Australia.
- 10Starting a food business in Australia: from a local product to a regional brandWhy food suits many founders, how to build a local food brand step by step, and the Australian rules to plan for: registration, food safety, labelling, allergens and origin.
- 11Choosing the right co-founder: complementary skills, shared vision, fair equity and agreements that prevent disputesHow to find and choose a co-founder: why complementary skills matter, deciding equity fairly, defining roles, testing compatibility, vesting and shareholder agreements, and what investors look for.
- 12Debt or equity? Ten questions for funding a small business, and how to grow with less capitalHow to choose between loans and investors using ten questions on cash flow, margins, security, ownership and capacity, plus customer funding and frugal ways to expand.
- 13Chase customers, not investors: prove unit economics first, then choose between debt and equityWhy capital follows businesses that have proven customers and unit economics, how to start with little capital through partnerships and customer funding, and ten questions for choosing debt or equity.
- 14When customers fund the business: deposits, prepayments and what happens when volume fallsMoney collected before delivery is cheap funding, but it is a promise, not profit. How to see what your customer float is made of, limit what it pays for and plan for a fall in orders.
- 15Taking on a strategic investor: what you exchange besides capitalA supplier, customer or larger company investing in your business can bring capability and market access, and change control and options. How to map the whole exchange before signing.
- 16Ring-fencing a new venture: decide in advance how you could stop itA new venture funded from the core business can become impossible to stop. How capped budgets, separate structures and a named stop authority protect the core and keep the bet honest.
- 17Personal finance for business owners: separating money, paying yourself and building wealth outside the businessGeneral guidance for owners: separate business and personal money, pay yourself, set aside tax, avoid borrowing to consume, use compounding and diversify beyond the business.
- 18Setting up an advisory board for a small business: mandate, members, meetings and termsHow a small business can borrow decades of experience through an advisory board: how it differs from a board of directors, choosing a mandate and members, running meetings and agreeing fair terms.
- 19Telling competence from confidence when choosing advisersConfidence is easy to show and hard to check; competence is the reverse. How to test an adviser before engaging them, be clear what you are buying and stop old prejudices ruling out help.
- 20Key-person dependence: what it costs a business before anyone leavesA business that depends on one person is worth less and grows more slowly, long before they leave. How to find where dependence sits, what it costs and how to reduce it in practice.
- 21Institution or people? Where the profits of a service business end upIn some service businesses customers trust the organisation; in others they trust individuals. That difference decides who captures the profit, and it shapes how service businesses should be built.
- 22Building a business that outlasts its founder: thinking big, asset-light growth, professional management and renewalHow owners build enduring businesses: escaping busyness, thinking big about value, asset-light growth, bringing in professionals, sharing ownership, acting as custodian and renewing.
These topic-based reading collections are organised alphabetically; chapters may be read in any order.
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