Going Self-Employed as a Tradesman: The Full Checklist
HMRC registration, sole trader vs limited, insurance, CIS, tools and your first customers, every step to going self-employed, in order.
- The order: register with HMRC, insurance, certifications, the money side, first customers.
- Start as a sole trader; consider a limited company once profits grow.
- Price properly from day one, cheap early customers are hard to ever raise.
Going Out On Your Own
This guide is for UK tradesmen making the jump from employed or sub-contract work to running their own business. Going self-employed is the single biggest earnings step most tradespeople ever make, but the first few months decide whether it sticks. Here is the practical checklist, in order.
1. Register With HMRC
If you are working for yourself, you must register as self-employed with HMRC, normally by 5 October in your business's second tax year, but do it as soon as you start trading. You will get a Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) and file a Self Assessment return each year. Most tradesmen also need to register for the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS), covered in detail in our CIS and tax guide.
2. Sole Trader or Limited Company?
Most tradesmen start as a sole trader. It is simpler, cheaper and fine for getting going. A limited company can be more tax-efficient once profits grow (often discussed around the £40,000-£50,000 profit mark, but it depends on your circumstances), and it separates your personal finances from the business. The honest answer: start as a sole trader, talk to an accountant once you are established, and incorporate when the numbers say so, not before.
3. Get Insured
Public liability insurance is effectively non-negotiable, most commercial clients, letting agents and even many homeowners will not let you on site without it, and it protects you if something goes wrong. Consider tools cover and, if you employ anyone, employers' liability (a legal requirement). Our guide to public liability insurance covers cover levels and typical costs.
4. Sort Your Certifications
Trade-specific registration is what unlocks the well-paid work. Gas work legally requires Gas Safe registration; notifiable electrical work effectively requires a competent-person scheme like NICEIC or NAPIT. These are not optional extras. They are the difference between scraping for cash jobs and winning compliant, insurable, premium work.
5. Set Up the Money Side
Open a separate business bank account from day one. It makes tax and bookkeeping vastly easier. Put aside roughly 20-30% of every payment for tax and National Insurance so the January Self Assessment bill is never a shock. Use simple invoicing/accounting software and keep every receipt: tools, fuel, materials, phone and more are allowable expenses that reduce your tax bill.
6. Price Properly From Day One
New tradesmen routinely underprice to win their first jobs and then get stuck at those rates. Work out your true day rate before you quote anything, our pricing guide shows how. Cheap early customers are also the hardest to ever raise prices on.
7. Get Your First Customers
This is where most new tradesmen struggle. Word of mouth takes time to build, and the early months are exactly when the diary has the most gaps. Practical first moves: set up a Google Business Profile and ask every customer for a review (see getting Google reviews), tell every contact you have gone out on your own, and plug into a channel that brings inbound work without a big upfront spend.
Pay-per-job is well suited to a new business because there is no monthly fee and no cost on jobs you don't win. You pay only when a customer confirms they chose you on the call. It fills the early gaps while your reputation builds. It's open to roofers, plumbers, electricians and heating engineers.
Emergency trade callouts across the UK
GetTheCall routes homeowner emergency calls to tradespeople in London, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Bristol, Sheffield, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Nottingham and Glasgow, plus 85+ other UK cities.