Subcontracting vs Your Own Customers: What Pays More?
Subbing vs your own customers, pay, risk, cash flow and control compared, and why most established trades deliberately run both.
- Subcontracting = steady, lower-risk, lower-margin work for a contractor.
- Own customers = higher margins and control, but you carry the marketing and admin.
- Most established tradesmen run both, subbie work for a base, direct work for the upside.
- The trap is being 100% reliant on one contractor who can cut your days overnight.
This is for UK tradesmen weighing up where their work should come from. Both models are valid, the right answer depends on what stage you're at.
Head to Head
| Subcontracting | Your own customers | |
|---|---|---|
| Margin | Lower, the contractor takes a cut | Higher. You keep it all |
| Stability | Steadier while the contract lasts | You smooth your own peaks and troughs |
| Admin/marketing | Minimal, work comes to you | You handle quotes, marketing, chasing |
| Control | Their site, their rules, their timeline | You set rates, hours and standards |
| Risk | Contractor can cut your days anytime | Diversified across many customers |
| Payment | Often via CIS, can be slow | You control terms (deposits, fast invoicing) |
When Subcontracting Makes Sense
- You're newly self-employed and need cash flow while you build a reputation.
- You prefer turning up and working without running a business.
- You want predictable days during a quiet stretch for your own work.
When Your Own Customers Win
- You want the full margin on every job.
- You're comfortable quoting and want control over rates and standards.
- You want an asset, repeat customers and a reputation that compounds.
Being 100% dependent on a single contractor is the most dangerous position in the trades. If they lose a contract or bring work in-house, your income vanishes overnight.
The Smart Play: A Mix
Most high-earning tradesmen run a base of reliable subbie or contract work and layer their own higher-margin jobs on top, see what tradesmen earn. The hard part of going direct is a steady flow of your own customers. Pay-per-job supplies screened emergency calls with no monthly fee; nearby eligible members ring at once, the first to answer connects privately, and payment applies only when a call converts. See electrical, plumbing, roofing and heating.
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