Registering as a sole trader is the easiest way to register a business in the UK. The paperwork is simple to complete and The Company Warehouse will do it for you for Free. Registering as a sole trader has advantages and disadvantages which you need to be aware of.

1. How to Register as a Sole Trader in the UK
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2. What is a Sole Trader?
● A 'sole trader' is a business run by one person who has not set up a
limited company
● Sole traders tend to be small businesses
● Sole traders can employ people (they do not have to work on their own)
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3. What are the advantages of being a Sole Trader?
● A sole trader has to do a lot less paperwork than a limited company
● A sole trader is not as heavily regulated as a limited company
● A Sole trader's information is not made public at Companies House
● A Sole trader can run their business how they like and keep the profit. There
are no board members or shareholders to interfere
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4. What are the disadvantages of being a Sole
Trader?
● The individual sole trader is personally legally responsible for anything the
company does
● The individual sole trader is personally financially responsible for any
company debts
● Some companies see sole traders as being risky to do business with or
lend money to
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5. How to Register as a Sole Trader in the UK
This is pretty simple.
Step 1 - Register with HMRC as self employed
Step 2 - Register for VAT (not compulsory under £70,000 turnover but a good
idea anyway)
Step 3 - Start trading
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6. Is there anything else sole traders need to do?
The biggest consideration will be your business name. Sole traders do not have to
register their business name but otherwise the normal rules apply.
● You cannot use a word or name that has been trademarked by someone else
● If you use a name which is too similar to someone else they can argue that
you are "passing off" as them (pretending to be them) and force you to
change it
It is worth checking this before you start buying domain names, or getting
stationery printed and signs made, otherwise you could end up with a big bill.
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7. Is that it?
For a sole trader just starting out then yes. But a sole trader is just like any
other business so there are things you ought to do.
● Do a business plan
● Get a business bank account
● Talk to an accountant about tax
● Keep up to date financial records
● Get a website and business email
● Get a logo and marketing plan
● Make some money
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8. How much does all of this cost?
You can get the forms you need from HMRC and fill them out yourself.
Alternatively get in touch with The Company Warehouse and we will do your
Sole Trader registration for FREE.
This is a same day service and we will even give you 1 month of free
accountancy to help get you started.
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