QUEENSLANDERS wanting to open a new business in 2017 will be offered a helping hand thanks to a new pilot program.

Minister for Innovation, Science and the Digital Economy and Minister for Small Business, Leeanne Enoch, said the Starting a Café pilot aimed to make it easier for people to find the right licences, regulations and information they need in order to start a business.

“The Queensland Government appreciates it can be confusing, costly and time-consuming to work through all the information and the licences and other administrative requirements when starting a business,” Enoch said.

“This new, intuitive online pilot site uses three types of business: a café, mobile food truck or takeaway food store, to help work through the multitude of information including business licensing and compliance information, costs and timeframes for approvals that are specific to the location of the business.

“We want to improve customer experiences and trust in government services by providing simple and easy to access information across federal, state and local governments,” she said.

The pilot asks the potential business operators a number of questions to help determine the licences, regulatory obligations and support services available from government.

“The site explores whether the business will handle food, will they need to consider advertising, will they use public spaces, what administrative duties they need to fulfil, whether they will work from home or if they will employ staff,” Enoch said.

“Customer feedback so far shows this new approach could save them time and thousands of dollars when setting up a new business.”

The Starting a Café pilot is a joint project between the Department of Science, Information Technology and Innovation and Department of Tourism, Major Events and Small Business.

Brisbane and Logan will be the first to access the pilot program which are scheduled to run until March 2017.

Learn more about the Starting a Café pilot program.