Start an NDIS business with a service plan, not just an ABN

Write your one-page service promise

Complete this sentence: “We support [people and needs] with [specific activities] in [area and hours], delivered by [roles and capabilities]. We will refer requests outside [boundaries].”

“Everything NDIS” is too broad to budget, staff or supervise. A sole trader offering community access has a different operating model from a team providing round-the-clock SIL.

Add your intended referral sources and the evidence you have that the service is needed. A large national participant count does not prove demand in your suburb or for your availability.

Check the pathway before making commitments

Use current NDIS Commission guidance to establish whether and how registration applies to your proposed services. Do not rely on the blanket claim that every sole trader may operate unregistered. SIL and digital platform registration reforms and transition arrangements changed the landscape in 2026.

Choose the business structure with suitable accounting and legal advice. Business and tax registration do not certify your service quality. Check insurance, worker requirements, contracts, local obligations and your particular registration scope.

Build three budgets

Setup: establishment, advice, insurance, systems, equipment, relevant registration/audit work and initial training.

Delivery: wages or your replacement wage, non-billable time, leave and other employment costs where applicable, travel, supervision, software and overheads.

Cash timing: when workers and suppliers are paid versus when money is actually collected. Include a reserve for slow or disputed payment and a slower-than-expected start.

Use the billable-hour tool. Its fictional example produces a cost of A$96 per billable hour from A$40 hourly wages, 25% illustrative employment on-costs, 38 paid hours, 25 billable hours and A$500 weekly overhead. This is not an award rate or an NDIS price limit. It demonstrates why the wage-to-price gap is not all profit.

Rehearse the first participant journey

Use an invented participant, never someone’s private file, for the rehearsal.

1. Enquiry: explain your service and its boundaries.
2. Intake: establish communication needs, consent and whether you can safely meet the request.
3. Agreement and planning: clarify what will happen, costs, responsibilities and changes.
4. Allocation: confirm the right worker, information and backup.
5. Delivery: follow the plan and record the actual support.
6. Review: hear the person’s experience and act on changes.
7. Billing: reconcile the support and applicable terms before claiming.

At each step, name the person responsible and show where the record will live. A missing step is a setup task, not a reason to improvise after work starts.

Choose a small, usable document set

Start with the records and procedures needed for your actual scope. Typical operational questions include intake and consent, support planning, service agreements, incidents, complaints, worker readiness, privacy, billing and continuity. This is a planning list, not a declaration of universal legal requirements.

Match the applicable Practice Standards to the service and test procedures in realistic scenarios.

When should you consider buying instead?

An acquisition may offer existing systems, staff and service history. It can also bring liabilities and a fragile revenue base. Compare the total funding and management task with starting from zero using the acquisition checklist. Participants retain choice; they are not guaranteed future revenue.