To begin I am a software enthusiast with minimal business experience.
I want to start a sole proprietorship where I develop ideas and then have people help me develop them for me. (people abroad)
So just to clarify ~ I have the ideas, not the software. But I dont want someone to manage these ideas other than myself. The RCA or (Canadian Revenue Agency) is where you go to start a small business. I honestly don't know if I should consult with them or if I can do this by myself. I want to start a separate bank account for my business but wont start making capital right away. Do I need a business number with the federal government?
Getting Started Software Legal Employees Business
Call Them! At the end of the day all national tax authorities want to ensure your paying the right amount of tax so they are generally happy to get inquiries. They normally get a bad reputation because of individuals unfavorable reactions due to their late payments or larger than expected payments.
When I started up I was very confused about taxes but after a, rather lengthy and extremely helpful, call to my tax authority they cleared lots of my misunderstandings up. I was also told that until I earned above a specific threshold I didn't have to register.
Also, as you won't be writing the code yourself but managing the ideas; have you thought about outsourcing, by contract and with a non-disclosure agreement, to other companies / self-employed coders?
That way you wouldn't be liable for their tax and revenue requirements, since they are not your employees, your ideas would be protected and would only have to do returns on your own income.