Going Self-Employed as a Tradesperson: What Actually Happens in Year One

You've got your skills, you've had enough of working for someone else, and you're thinking about going self-employed. Before you hand in your notice, here's what actually happens in the first year - the stuff no one tells you.

The Money Situation Is Weird at First

Your first week self-employed, you'll probably earn nothing. Maybe your first month. Work takes time to build up, and even when you get jobs, you don't get paid until they're done - and sometimes not even then.

What you actually need:

• 3-6 months of living expenses saved up (not tool money - living money)
• A separate pot for your first tax bill (it'll be bigger than you expect)
• Money for materials before customers pay you
• Emergency fund for when the van breaks down

I know blokes who started self-employed with nothing saved and were borrowing money for fuel within two months. Don't be that guy.

Getting Your First Customers

The day you go self-employed, you probably don't have enough work to fill your diary. Here's what actually works to change that:

What works:

• Tell absolutely everyone you know - family, mates, old colleagues, the bloke at the counter when you're buying your morning coffee
• Do good work for anyone who gives you a chance, even small jobs
• Ask happy customers to recommend you to their friends
• Sign up to Checkatrade, MyBuilder, etc. (mixed reviews but they do generate leads)

What doesn't work as well as you'd think:

• Facebook ads (expensive, low conversion)
• Fancy websites (helps long-term but doesn't bring instant work)
• Flyers through doors (almost nobody calls from these)

The Paperwork Nobody Warns You About

Being self-employed means doing a bunch of stuff you never had to think about before:

• Registering as self-employed with HMRC (do this immediately)
• Keeping every receipt for everything business-related
• Sending invoices and actually chasing payment
• Quarterly tax estimates or setting aside money for the January bill
• Getting insurance - public liability at minimum, tool cover ideally

Set up a system from day one. A box for receipts and a simple spreadsheet will do initially. Trying to reconstruct a year's records in January is miserable.

Pricing Jobs: The Eternal Struggle

You'll undercharge at first. Everyone does. A job that takes you all day and costs you £50 in materials gets quoted at £150 because you're scared of losing it. Then you realise you've made about £8 an hour after van costs, and you've got to pay tax on that.

Work out your actual costs:

• What do you need to earn per day to pay your bills?
• Add 30% for tax and NI
• Add van costs, tool wear, insurance, phone
• Add something for the days you won't have work

That daily rate is your minimum. Don't go below it because you're worried about competition. The guys charging rock-bottom are either going bust slowly or cutting corners you shouldn't cut.

The Loneliness Thing

Nobody talks about this, but going from a site full of people to working alone all day is a big adjustment. Some people love it. Some people struggle.

If you're the social type, make an effort to stay connected - trade associations, breakfast networking groups, even just meeting other tradies for lunch sometimes. It's not soft, it's practical.

Building a Toolkit for Self-Employment

Whatever you own now probably isn't enough for every job you might take on. But don't go mad buying everything at once - that's a quick way to burn through your savings.

Prioritise the stuff you'll use every day. A quality cordless drill and impact driver set, decent hand tools, and the basics for your trade. Buy specialist tools when a job requires them - then you're at least earning while you spend.

What Success Actually Looks Like After Year One

If you've made it through year one with:

• A steady stream of incoming enquiries
• Repeat customers asking you back
• Enough money to pay your bills and your tax
• Some idea of what you should be charging

...then you're doing well. It gets easier from here. Year two you'll have referrals, reviews, and relationships that make finding work much less stressful.

The tradespeople who fail usually do so because they ran out of money before they built up enough work, or because they undercharged so badly they couldn't sustain it. Don't do either of those things.