Different beginnings. Useful questions.

These fictional scenarios help you recognise the kind of conversation you may need. They are not client cases and do not determine a legal, tax or incorporation outcome.

Open a founder folio.

Three fictional starting points. Each has a different set of broad notes and unanswered questions, with no official documents or eligibility decision.

Choose a sample starting point

Sample conversation folder

One founder, new idea

A founder is exploring a new service business and wants to understand the provider’s formation and ongoing support scope.

Notes prepared

The intended activity

A broad description of the service and who it is for.

Noted for discussion

The people involved

The broad ownership and management picture, without personal records.

Noted for discussion

Where work happens

Broad operating locations and the questions they raise.

Noted for discussion

0 of 3 broad notes marked for discussion

Questions still open

Who will assess the proposed activity and operating locations? What falls within the provider’s own scope, and what needs another qualified adviser?

Put one question first

The next conversation

Ask the provider to outline the assessment, the information route and the scope to agree before work begins.

One founder, new idea / Provider responsibilitiesBring this folio to my founder brief

A preparation aid only. Real requirements and responsibilities come from the provider. No legal or tax route is recommended.

The idea-stage founder.

A founder has a broad activity in mind but has not settled the operating picture. The useful next step is to describe the intended work, identify unknowns and ask which advisers should review the options.

Prepare: A short business outline and a list of provisional assumptions.
Ask: What facts are needed before a route can be assessed? What is the scope of the initial advice?

The founder with a wider footprint.

People or planned operations may sit in more than one place. The useful conversation begins with that actual picture and the professional advice needed to assess it.

Prepare: A broad map of planned operations and roles, without private identifiers.
Ask: Which qualified advisers should review the proposal and how will their responsibilities be coordinated?

The owner reviewing ongoing support.

An existing business owner wants to understand what is handled, by whom and at what cost. The starting point is a service map rather than an assumption that everything is included.

Prepare: The current service categories and the items that feel unclear.
Ask: Which records and arrangements should be reviewed? How would a service handover be planned?

Describe your own beginning.

You may share parts of several scenarios. Keep the actual facts in the foreground.

Make a founder brief