Choosing a biz structure shouldn’t feel like spinning a wheel and hoping for the best. In this episode, Aly G and Leethal Lee break down the tea on sole trader vs company vs trust, minus the boring textbook vibes.

We’re talking:

✨ The tax traps that catch first-time sole traders off guard (hello, double whammy tax shock 👀)
 ✨ Why the ATO has been tightening the screws on payment plans and remitting general interest charges
 ✨ How to avoid sliding into a totally preventable debt spiral
 ✨ What “asset protection” actually means in real life
 ✨ And how your structure impacts funding, privacy, and future growth

Then we get real about company life. Yes, there’s the capped corporate tax rate and shiny “separate legal entity” perks… but there are also very real director duties that ASIC and the ATO absolutely enforce. And if you’re selling your own skills? We unpack the personal services income rules that can wipe out that dreamy “company tax advantage.”

Trusts? Oh, we go there.
Discretionary distributions. Capital gains tax concessions. Flexibility. Wealth-building power. And the ATO’s very clear position that cash needs to match the paperwork.

We share the war stories, family law battles, unexpected losses, liquidations, shadow directorship drama, messy money flows, and the lessons that come with them.

We break down:
 ✔️ Why the modern “company + trust shareholder” stack is popular
 ✔️ When that setup doesn’t make sense
 ✔️ What you’re really signing when you become a director
✔️ How to balance tax savings against legal risk
✔️ And how to protect yourself from coercive decisions

We wrap with a no-fluff setup checklist:
 ABN or ACN?
 Business name?
 GST?
 Separate bank accounts (non-negotiable)?
 Smart software?
 Insurance?
 Record-keeping that actually scales?

If you’ve been overthinking your structure or low-key avoiding it because it feels confusing, this one’s for you.

Make sure to follow the show and join us with bold moves, big wins, women leading the way. 

Here is a handy checklist that you may find useful

SHE MEANS BIZ IS PROUDLY BROUGHT TO YOU BY OUR SPONSOR

Ignition | Spending days engaging clients? Chasing late payments? Dealing with scope creep? We get it. Ignition helps accounting and professional services businesses reclaim time, profitability and cash flow. Automate proposals, billing, payments and workflows in a single platform