13 Responses

1. ET

   July 17th, 2007 at 9:50 pm

   1

   To register a business you will need a business address. There are no problems for private apartments (unless rented then you have to seek permission from landlord) and for HDB addresses, you need to seek permission too. Another option that some do, is “renting” secretariat service. That is like renting their business address and also indicate additional cost.

   I am not too sure about your previous employment. For self-employed individuals, you are only subjected to Medisave Liability if your annual income/trade for that business is more than SGD$6,000 per annum. I assumed you do not have a previous registered business otherwise you wouldn’t be asking this. Alternatively, check with CPF board on where your Medisave Liability is tabulated from. If it’s wrongly tabulated, you can go to CPF board and request them to remove the liability and that part is solved. I once registered a stand-by business with no trading activities apart from my regular business. CPF charged more than $500 worth of Medisave Liability under that business name, and I managed to revoke it with that clause above.

2. claudia

   July 17th, 2007 at 10:10 pm

   2

   Hi ET,
   Thanks for your infor. So does that means other than the registering fee, I do not need to make any more payment/ top-ups to medisave till the end of my business year? My concern is lack of capital you see. If I have to make top-ups to medisave, I won’t be able to register my business.

3. nay min thu

   July 17th, 2007 at 10:12 pm

   3

   Are you registering a Sole Proprietorship or a Private Limited Company? For sole proprietorship, the cost should be only $65. Yearly renewal fee is $20. For Pte Ltd Co, the cost is much higher and more formalised, but there is no need to renew registration every year.

   Oh, the costs will be much higher if you go through an agent who will do everything for you.

   Hope it helps.

   =)

4. claudia

   July 17th, 2007 at 10:21 pm

   4

   it’ll properly be a sole proprietorship for now. pte ltd is too far fetch for me lah! haha… of cos no body knows what the future might bring ya! wahahaha!! (I’m dreaming!)

   don’t think an agent is needed… as mentioned, my only concern is the medisave top-ups! haha…

   so anyone got any advices or have done it before?

5. ET

   July 17th, 2007 at 10:28 pm

   5

   You can have two options. Either you pay monthly, or you pay a lump sum at the end of the year. Without topping up your Medisave you can’t renew your business license. That’s what I can recall.

   If there’s a lack of funds, why not wait a little while more? Other than the upfront capital and fees, you should also be thinking about working capital, and how you should manipulate the funds. If you have a worry on lack of capital, hold it, you are not ready for business. Why? To start a business, you need a plan. Everything from where the funds are from, how the funds will be spent, what is the safety balance I should see in my account, what are the hidden costs like stationery etc, what revenue margin are you looking at, how long are you going to give yourself to break even? Even though we have seen many entrepreneurs starting their business with literally no plans, we cannot assume the sky is equally blue for everyone of us.

   If it is not a capital intensive business, you might want to seek a loan from your family or friends just to handle the Medisave Liability part.

6. kriscell

   July 18th, 2007 at 4:37 pm

   6

   Hi with regards to this I can share with you my experience when I register one 4 yrs ago (not sure if the policies changes or not).

   Medisave just make sure you top up to your required amount. If you have work before then your Medisave should be settled by your monthly contributions. If you never work before then there is nothing to worry about. Just register your biz and start to worry about all these after 1 year.

   Hopefully it answer your questions. I will be starting a new biz soon so maybe also need to get some info from you if mine is not updated.

7. astro

   July 18th, 2007 at 5:33 pm

   7

   Hi Claudia,

   Just some thoughts. First you need to think through if there is really a need to register a business for what you are doing. if you are selling some stuff online, i don’t think you actually need to do it.

8. claudia

   July 18th, 2007 at 8:56 pm

   8

   hi kriscell,
   thanks for ur comments. think i might hold on to my plans for now.

   hi astro, (u’re the one from pitstop ya?)
   anyway, tat’s true lah, what i’m doing now not necessary to be registered. the plan was for another idea of mine… but than its put on hold for now.

9. Mel

   July 18th, 2007 at 9:34 pm

   9

   Hi Claudia,

   What do u plan to do online? I am into web application development and online business.
   Feel free to contact me for any query.

   All the best!

10. claudia

    July 18th, 2007 at 9:53 pm

    10

    thanks mel. will keep that in mind.

11. Jean

    July 19th, 2007 at 1:18 am

    11

    Hi Claudia…

    Haha.. seems like you got most of your replies. I was checking with my friends this afternoon. If your business does not hit $6000 (nett), then you probably don’t have to worry about the Medisave portion. You will probably get your notice before your business licence renewal, but I heard that your first renewal should go by without you having to worry about Medisave. It’s the second renewal that’s more of a headache. But again, you have to earn more than $6000 before you worry about it.

    Hi Mel,

    Oh, I’m into web application development too. Any chance for any collaboration?
    Cheers!

12. Simply Me. Simply Jean. » Blog Archive » Medisave for sole proprietors in Singapore

    July 19th, 2007 at 1:39 am

    12

    [...] was asking about how to register a business in Singapore, and like her initially, isn’t S$65 all you have to pay to start a sole proprietory business? [...]

13. Thoughts on registering a business in Singapore at Michael’s On9 Systems

    July 19th, 2007 at 1:48 pm

    13

    [...] Claudia from limedsign recently asked for comments on registering a business in Singapore. Seeing as how some friends are recently thinking of doing the same, I thought I would pen down some experiences with it. Am certainly NOT a veteran at this having only registered 2 myself (Asis-T Solutions and On9 Systems) and 1 other for friend (Webvolutions) but this should be useful to me (and anyone reading) should I/you need to register another company again! [...]