transition employee to self employed trades
Quitting the Boss: The First 30 Days of Being Self-Employed
You've handed your notice in and now it's just you, the van and a knot in your stomach. The fear is normal - wages stop, but bills don't. Most lads worry about tools and a website. Wrong order.
For your first 30 days, the only jobs that matter are: register with HMRC, sort insurance, and get a way to send quotes fast. Everything else can wait until the work's coming in.
Get the boring legal bits nailed first
This is the stuff that bites you later if you skip it. None of it takes long, and most of it is free or cheap.
- Register as self-employed with HMRC within the deadline - do it online, it's free, and you'll need your UTR number.
- Open a separate bank account for the business so your money and tax don't get mixed up.
- Sort public liability insurance before you set foot on a customer's job - most won't let you on site without it.
Then make yourself look legit
You don't need a fancy brand on day one. You need to look like someone people can trust with a deposit.
- Set up a free Google Business Profile - this is how local people find you.
- Get a simple logo or even just a clean name and number you can put on quotes.
- Decide your day rate and your pricing before the first call comes in, so you're not guessing on the phone.
Your first-30-days checklist
Print this, screenshot it, work through it. Tick one a day and you're sorted before the month's out.
- ✓ Register as self-employed with HMRC and note your UTR
- ✓ Open a separate business bank account
- ✓ Buy public liability insurance (and tools cover if needed)
- ✓ Set up a free Google Business Profile with photos and your number
- ✓ Set your day rate and standard prices in writing
- ✓ Tell every old contact, mate and supplier you're now on your own
- ✓ Set up a fast way to send branded quotes from your phone
- ✓ Put £1 in £4 aside from every job for your tax bill
- ✓ Save one folder for receipts so January isn't a nightmare
Where new tradies get this wrong
- Spending on the wrong things. New van wrap and a website before a single quote's gone out. Spend on insurance and getting found, not vanity.
- Slow quotes. A lead goes cold in hours. If you take three days to send a price written on the back of a fag packet, the job's gone to the bloke who replied that evening.
- Forgetting the taxman. You spend everything you earn, then a tax bill lands you can't pay. Set the money aside from job one.
Quote fast before the lead goes cold
In month one you've got no systems, no admin habits, and no time. The last thing you want is to lose an evening fighting a spreadsheet to send one price.
Quotato is built so you can be quoting within minutes of signing up - no setup, no faff. Free onboarding, your details in once, and you're sending branded quotes from your phone on the drive home. While the other new lad is still 'getting round to it', your price is already in the customer's inbox.
The first 30 days feel mad, but it's just a list. Get legal, get found, and get quoting fast - the rest follows the work.
Get set up and send your first quote today.
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