Honcho Australia helps 800,000 businesses launch, aiming to hit a million in two years
Honcho Australia has established itself as a leading force in supporting Australians starting a business.
Honcho Australia has established itself as a leading force in supporting Australians starting a business. The company has helped over 800,000 businesses nationwide, streamlining the often-complex registration processes to make launching a business simpler and faster.
Honcho’s story started in 2008 when it was the first company in Australia to offer business registration services online. Until then, the only way to start a business in Australia was to visit an accountant or lawyer, a process that was often time-consuming and expensive.
“We realised early on that many small business owners were getting stuck at the very first step – registering their business. The process was complex, time-consuming, and costly for many,” said Miralda Ishkhanian, accountant and director of Honcho.
By removing common obstacles, Honcho has made the journey of starting a business more accessible and less daunting for business founders across the country.
Now, the company has set a new goal: hitting a milestone of helping a total of one million Australian businesses launch in the next two years. Honcho’s focus aligns with Australia’s recent surge in business ownership. Research indicates that more people are choosing to work for themselves or start small businesses. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, over 97,000 new businesses were created in 2022, a 5.4% increase compared to the previous year. As a result, Honcho’s tools and services are in demand as individuals seek quick, straightforward ways to register their businesses.
Making business registration easier
Honcho’s success comes from the ease of the registration process for new businesses. When people want to start their own business, they often must deal with confusing steps, like obtaining an Australian Business Number (ABN), registering their business name, trademarking IP, setting up tax file numbers, securing domain names, and getting a website up and running.
“Honcho’s ecosystem brings all these steps into one place, allowing Australians starting a business to take care of everything at the right time and in the right order,” Ishkhanian said. “Honcho’s solution removes much of the stress from this process, making it faster and easier for people to start working on their business ideas.”
Simplification of the business registration process has been shown to increase entrepreneurship. A study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) found that countries with easier business registration processes have higher numbers of new businesses.
“Ultimately, our goal is to help individual Australians have a better chance of succeeding in business and, as a result, to help the Australian economy as a whole,” Ishkhanian added.
Reaching big goals for the future
Honcho’s goal to help a total of one million new businesses start up in the next two years is ambitious; however, according to the company, they are on track to achieve success.
As the company prepares to help even more Australians, it has also aimed globally. The company has launched its first streamlined offering in the United States under the domain Honcho.com, and it plans to expand its services to other countries where there is also a growing demand for easy business solutions.
“We’re confident that our value equation to business founders can work just as well globally,” Ishkhanian states.
Another reason Honcho expects to meet its goal is that the world is increasingly moving online. More people are turning to digital platforms for business tools, and Honcho’s fully online service fits perfectly with this trend.
Facing the challenges
The business registration market in Australia has always been competitive. For years, legal and accounting firms dominated this space, offering more expensive services that new business owners had to pay for. To stand out, Honcho had to offer something truly different.
“We didn’t set out to simply replace accountants or lawyers. Our goal was to make the early stages of business registration as easy and accessible as possible, particularly for people who don’t have a business background. The net result is that many lawyers and accountants use our service to help their clients today,” explained Ishkhanian.
A growing business model
As Honcho works towards its goal of helping one million new businesses, its approach has proven successful and will continue to succeed, backed by trends in the industry. According to IBISWorld, the business registration and advisory industry in Australia is expected to grow by 3.6% annually over the next five years. This indicates a positive outlook for companies like Honcho that offer digital business services.
Honcho’s platform has become a crucial part of Australia’s startup economy. The company helps make business ownership simpler and more accessible, which is particularly important now as more people look for ways to take control of their futures and maximise the opportunities available to them.
“We’ve helped so many people get their businesses off the ground. But this is just the beginning,” said Ishkhanian. “We’re committed to making sure that as many people as possible can realise their business dreams and to give them a better chance of being successful.”
