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Building the foundation for your purpose-led business
Once you’ve decided how you’ll make a difference in the world, you’ll need to set things up. Your set-up will affect how your business runs and what sort of funding you can get. Your set-up will be like the foundation for a house: sitting out of sight but holding everything up.
Choose a legal structure
Kiwi businesses can have different structures, each with different legal and financial obligations. Businesses that want to make a difference can have any legal structure, but the two most common choices are charitable trust and limited liability company. Both allow you to register for charitable status (which means becoming a charity) if that’s right for your business.
Register as a charity if appropriate
Making a difference with your purpose-led business
You could choose a charitable trust
A charitable trust is a good way to look after your business assets (eg income or property) so they’re always used for doing good. A legal document sets out what the trust’s assets can be used for. This means your overall purpose is embedded in how your business is legally set up.
To become a charitable trust, your business must exist mainly to do one of these things:
- relieve poverty
- promote education or religion
- benefit the community in other ways (eg improve health or protect the environment).
This structure might be for you if you’ll get half or more of your income from grants and donations. Talk to a lawyer or your accountant to decide. You’ll also likely need legal help to set up and manage the trust.
About charitable trusts (external link) — Companies Office
You could choose a limited liability company
A limited liability company (also known simply as a ‘company’) is a good structure if you:
- will get most of your revenue from buying or selling products and services
- plan to have shareholders (people who own shares in your business).
This legal structure limits what shareholders are responsible for.
A limited liability company can have a constitution. This is a legal document that sets out the rights, powers and duties of your company, your directors and your shareholders. You can use this document to set out how your business will do good. This means your overall purpose is embedded in your core legal document.
You’ll need to register your limited liability company with the Companies Office.
Starting a company(external link) — Companies Office
Get advice to choose the best option
The right business structure will determine how your business operates and what sort of funding you can get. Talk to an accountant, a lawyer, or both to ensure you make the best choice.
“Charitable trusts can take more time and money to set up, but they can have long-lasting benefits.”
Jessica Palalagi, Capability Enabler at Ākina Foundation
Case study: Tee shirts for good
Twins Maria and Marta want to create clothing that has a positive impact on the world. They intend every part of their tee shirt business to be as ethical as possible. This means sourcing sustainable materials, preventing pollution and reducing waste during production. They also decide to employ teenage parents to sew the tee shirts, to give youth in their local area jobs and experience.
Maria and Marta weigh up the pros and cons of different types of business structures. Because their business is of benefit to the community, they consider a charitable trust. This would work well if they wanted to seek funding through grants, which they feel sure they could find. It would also mean they may not need to pay any tax. On the other hand, it would stop them from getting investment by giving away shares of their business.
The twins want to prove that businesses can be truly ethical and positive while also being profitable. They know a growing number of consumers are making ethical choices, and will pay more for ethically made tee shirts. And they know some investors want to put their money where it can make a difference. The twins are keen to look for shareholders.
Maria and Marta set up a limited liability company. They’ll use their purpose to market their business to possible shareholders and their tee-shirts to customers. They hope their story will inspire other businesses to do good too.
Give your business a name
A good name summarises what your business is about and sticks in customers’ minds. Take time to choose something that represents you well. Make it unique and easy to say.
Register as a charity if appropriate
Being a registered charity has many benefits and a few obligations. Think carefully about whether charitable status will help or hinder your ability to fulfil your overall purpose.
If your business structure is:
- charitable trust, you must register your business as a charity
- limited liability company, you can register your business as a charity if its purpose is exclusively charitable.
Talk to an accountant, a lawyer, or both if you need help deciding.
Charitable purpose(external link) — Charities Services
Benefits and obligations of being a registered charity(external link) — Charities Services
Apply for registration(external link) — Charities Services
Update key documents
Make sure your most important documents set out the impact you want to make. This makes your good intentions core to how your business operates, so you stay on track.
Update your constitution
A constitution is a legal document that sets out the rights, powers and duties of your company. You don’t have to have a constitution, but if you do you must follow it.
Writing or changing a constitution(external link) — Companies Office
Update your shareholders’ agreement
Shareholders are people who own parts of your business. If you have shareholders, you’ll need an agreement that sets out how they operate and interact.
Decide how to report your impact
Consider how you’ll report on the difference you make in the world. Reporting helps to keep you on track and shows commitment to your purpose. It also helps investors see the value of their investment.
Knowing what and how to measure is the first step to clear reporting.
If you haven’t yet developed your business and impact models, now’s the time.
Get a New Zealand Business Number
A New Zealand Business Number (NZBN) is a unique identifier for your business. It’s a single place to record all your key info, like your trading name, phone number and email address.
If you register as a limited liability company with the Companies Office, you’ll automatically get an NZBN. If you have any other sort of business structure, you can register for an NZBN online. It’s free.
Some banks offer special packages for start-up businesses.
Talk to your bank to find out what’s available. Be sure to keep your business banking separate from your personal banking.
Know how to comply with regulations
Your business will need to comply with regulations relevant to your industry. It’s important to get familiar with all your responsibilities, eg for hiring and managing staff, paying tax, keeping people healthy and safe and protecting consumers’ rights.
Introduction to taxes and levies
Browse the rest of business.govt.nz for other advice. Or use our Compliance Matters tool to narrow things down by topic, industry and business structure.
Get insured
The insurance you need depends on the nature of your business. No policy covers everything, so think carefully about the sort of risks you face. Talk to an insurance broker if you need help deciding.
Build your support team
As well as dedicated staff, you’ll need people who can answer tough questions and fill gaps in your knowledge. A good way to get expert advice and guidance is through a business advisor or advisory board.
Business mentors(external link) — businessmentors.org.nz
Check out accreditation, certification, licences or memberships in your industry.
These can help you gain knowledge and credibility, plus connect with like-minded people.