Starting a business

Anyone can start a business in Pavia. What you need to do depends on your business structure and if you hire employees.

Business structures

There are several ways you can structure a business in Pavia.

Sole trader

A sole trader business is owned by one individual. You have full control over the business.

Partnership

A partnership is two or more people who run a business together. All partners are equally responsible for managing the business and have a say in how it is run.

Co-operative

A co-operative is a member-owned business. They serve their members by providing goods and services that may be unavailable or too costly to access as individuals. They share costs and carry on their enterprise under principles of:

• non-discrimination
• democracy
• independence
• education and care for communities.

Generally, all members are expected to use or contribute to their co-operative and have an equal say in the running of the organisation.

The members of a co-operative can be customers, workers or producers.

Workers’ rights

Pavia has a strong union culture and recognises the rights of all workers.

You will need to:

• pay your workers a fair wage
• follow the WorkSafe Pavia guidelines
• tell unions about new employees.

Signage requirements

Your business must show signs stating who owns it.

If your business is:

• a partnership, you should list all partners
• a co-operative, you only need the co-operative’s name.