Launching a business in British Columbia involves two checklists: the legal one everyone tells you about, and the digital one most founders discover six months late — after the doors are open and the phone isn't ringing. Here's both, in order.

Part 1: The Legal Foundation

1. Name search and registration

Run a name search through BC Registries (Name Request Online, $31). Once approved, register as a sole proprietorship ($40) or incorporate (~$350 online). Incorporation costs more upfront but limits liability and looks better to commercial clients — most service businesses billing other businesses should incorporate.

2. Business number and tax accounts

Registering federally gets you a CRA Business Number. Add a GST account once revenue passes $30,000 in any four consecutive quarters (or immediately — early registration lets you claim input credits on startup costs). BC PST registration is separate and applies if you sell taxable goods or certain services.

3. Municipal licence

Every BC municipality requires a business licence — Kelowna, Vernon, and Penticton all run online portals; budget $100–$300/year. Home-based businesses usually need one too.

4. Insurance

Commercial general liability at minimum; professional liability if you advise or build anything. Trades need WorkSafeBC registration before the first hire — or sooner, since many GCs require it of subs.

Part 2: The Digital Foundation

This is the half that determines whether anyone finds you.

5. Domain and email

Buy the .ca (and .com if available) before announcing the name anywhere. Set up a custom-domain email — invoices from a Gmail address cost real credibility with commercial clients.

6. Google Business Profile — before the website

Free, and for local searches it is your storefront: it feeds Maps results and the local pack. Claim it, verify it, fill every field, add photos, and start collecting reviews from day one. Five reviews in month one beats fifty someday.

7. A website that can actually rank

The $20/month template gets you online; it rarely gets you found. What matters for a new BC business:

• Speed — Core Web Vitals are a ranking factor, and slow sites bleed the visitors you do get.
• Local pages — a page per service area you genuinely serve, not one generic "contact us".
• Costs — realistic 2026 numbers are in our website cost guide: roughly $3,000 for a landing page, $5,000–$10,000 for a business site.

8. Local SEO from week one

SEO compounds, which means the best time to start is before you need it. The basics that move the needle for a new business: consistent name/address/phone across every listing, a Google Business Profile that's actively maintained, city-level pages, and a handful of foundational citations (Yelp, YellowPages, industry directories). Our SEO services page covers what a managed program looks like — or DIY the basics; just don't skip them.

9. Lead capture and follow-up

Decide before launch how inquiries reach you and how fast you respond. Speed-to-lead is the highest-leverage sales metric a new business controls — we wrote a whole guide on automating lead follow-ups without losing the personal touch.

10. Analytics

Install Google Analytics 4 and Search Console on day one. You can't improve what you never measured, and the early data becomes the baseline for every future decision.

The Launch-Week Order of Operations

1. Name search → registration → BN/GST → municipal licence
2. Domain + email
3. Google Business Profile claimed and verified
4. Website live (even a fast one-pager beats nothing)
5. Analytics + Search Console connected
6. First five reviews requested
7. Citations built

The Bottom Line

The legal half of launching in BC takes about a week and follows a fixed script. The digital half determines whether the business actually gets customers — and it rewards starting early, because search visibility compounds while paperwork doesn't.

We've helped launch businesses across the Okanagan and BC — websites, local SEO, and the automation that keeps follow-up instant. If you're launching this year, book a free call and we'll tell you which pieces you can DIY and which are worth the budget.