Close Menu
  • News
  • Home
  • In Profile
  • Finance
  • Legal
  • Technology
  • Events
  • Features
  • Wellbeing & Mental Health
  • Marketing
  • HR & Recruitment
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Events Calendar
  • Business Wall
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • 0843 289 4634
X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
Trending
  • Handheld Laser Scanners Drive New Growth For Sep Geospatial In Unlikely Sectors
  • Loughborough’s Here Self Storage Hits 65% Occupancy As Local Demand Grows
  • Tool theft legislation and steps to protect your tools
  • Why Digital Excellence is key to transforming Business Culture
  • Busting myths about Asset Based Lending 
  • Self-driving cars could hit UK roads sooner than you expect, says Heligan Group
  • New Venture Aims To Help Propel Growth For Start-Ups
  • Building community, one cause at a time
X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
SME Today
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Events Calendar
  • Business Wall
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • 0843 289 4634
  • News
  • Home
  • In Profile
  • Finance
  • Legal
  • Technology
  • Events
  • Features
  • Wellbeing
  • Marketing
  • HR & Recruitment
SME Today
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Events Calendar
  • Business Wall
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • 0843 289 4634
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • RSS
You are at:Home»Features»A Guide to Starting Out as a Freelancer
Remote working

A Guide to Starting Out as a Freelancer

0
Posted By sme-admin on November 15, 2023 Features

If you’ve recently made the decision to go freelance, you may be wondering where to begin with getting yourself set up for this exciting new chapter in your career.

To help aspiring freelancers cut down on what can seem like an overwhelming to-do list, Rose Buckler, Head of Rose Buckler Business Banking Operations at Starling Bank, shares her tips on the key priorities to think about when getting started.

Decide between setting up as a sole trader or limited company

When going freelance, one of the first decisions to make is whether to operate as a sole trader or a limited company.

As a sole trader, you have to register for a self-assessment tax return and present your income, expenditure and profits. You’ll pay National Insurance contributions and Personal Income tax on profits over your individual tax free allowances. A benefit of being a sole trader is that you generally have less paperwork, but once you’re turning over a certain amount, you could end up paying more tax than limited companies.

For limited companies, you’ll need to register with Companies House and any money withdrawn from the company must be formally recorded as a salary, dividend or loan. The company will  pay corporation tax on taxable profits and you’ll pay income tax on any salary or dividends paid to you personally by the company. If you have personal assets, such as property, a benefit of being a limited company is that your personal assets are protected against company debts, which is not the case for sole traders. Something else to consider is that some of your potential clients may have a policy of working with limited companies only, not sole traders. So it’s worth doing your research before deciding which option is best for you.

Apply for a business bank account

Depending on whether you have opted to set up a limited company or work as a sole trader, you will need to think about how to manage your working finances. While it’s not a legal requirement to have a business bank account as a sole trader, it is a good idea to have one to separate funds from your personal finances. In the case of limited companies, it is essential to have a separate business account in order to maintain clear and accurate financial records.

Some business accounts offer features designed to make banking easier for small businesses. For example, Starling Bank’s Business Toolkit (just £7 per month) offers the ability to manage invoices, bills, tax and VAT from one bank account, so everything is simplified and managed in one place. It is important to remember that your business account is not your personal bank account, so it will need to be managed differently and kept separate from your personal spending.

Set your rate

When you are starting out, do some research on what the going rate is for the service you’re providing. Speak to connections in your industry, ask a former boss, look at salary surveys online. In particular, if you know anyone in a role whose job it is to put together a budget, ask them how much they would charge for what you are offering.

However you choose to establish this information, if you have an idea of what you should be being paid for your time and expertise, you’ll feel much more confident in negotiating your fees. Equally, don’t feel that you need to offer your rate first. When entering discussions about money, ask the client what the budget for the project is – you may find that it’s higher than what you were planning to offer, and it’s not necessarily based on a day rate.

Build your network

Freelancing can be a lonely experience, especially if you’ve been used to working surrounded by a network of colleagues, so it’s important to build a new network of your own that you can lean on for support.

There are plenty of groups and organisations out there that have been set up for exactly this purpose. For example, Doing It For the Kids is an established organisation for connecting freelancing parents with young kids to one another. Even just setting up a small WhatsApp group can offer a huge amount of support as you go on your freelance journey.

Reflect on how you work best

Perhaps the biggest advantage to becoming a freelancer is that you are now in charge of your own time. Try to find a way that helps provide structure to your day, which will motivate you to get through your tasks.As you’re starting out, make sure you take some time to reflect on the best working style for you, and how you’re going to replicate this during your working hours and processes. What time of the day are you at your most productive? Will you need to factor in client office hours and meetings? What is going to motivate you to get tasks done? Make your freelance role work for you.

Rose Buckler, Head of Business Banking Operations at Starling Bank

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email

Related Posts

5 Reasons Why Every Office Should Include Flexible Spaces to Work and Their Key Benefits

Brits lose £11.4 billion to scams: these are 5 of the most dangerous

How to demonstrate value beyond cost in business proposals

Comments are closed.

Follow SME Today on Linkedin and share all the topics you find interesting
Verify your identity for Companies House

The Newsletter

Join our mailing list for the best SME stories, handpicked and delivered direct to your inbox every two weeks!

Sign Up
Events Calendar
    • Marketing
    July 7, 2025

    Bold Business Marketing Specialist Speaks In Swindon This Week

    July 4, 2025

    How Generative AI is Giving SMEs a Marketing Edge

    • Finance
    July 14, 2025

    Busting myths about Asset Based Lending 

    July 10, 2025

    How to build a £1 million pension and ISA portfolio

    • Health & Safety
    July 1, 2025

    Temperatures Soaring: Is Your Workplace Becoming Unsafe?

    January 29, 2025

    UK takeaways guilty of shocking hygiene failures:

    • Events
    July 4, 2025

    £20k grant for female-founded SME up for grabs

    July 2, 2025

    As Seen on BBC Panorama – Brad Burton to Headline The South West Expo in Swindon

    • Community
    July 11, 2025

    Building community, one cause at a time

    June 23, 2025

    Celebrating One Year In Fairford Supporting The Community

    • Food & Drink
    June 23, 2025

    England Cricket Captain, Ben Stokes OBE, takes a stake in Spencer Matthews’ alcohol-free spirits brand, CleanCo

    June 16, 2025

    Hospitality industry risks collapse

    • Books
    April 24, 2025

    Values-Driven Professionalism: A Path to Client Loyalty

    December 2, 2024

    Banish the banshee boss: how to lead without fear – addressing the issue of fear-based management and how NOT to be this manager

    About

    SME Today is published by the same team who deliver The Great British Expos’. We have been organising various corporate events for the last 10 years, with a strong track record of producing well managed and attended business events across the UK.

    Join Our Mailing List

    Receive the latest news and updates from SMEToday.
    Read our Latest Newsletter:


    Sign Up
    X (Twitter) YouTube LinkedIn
    Most Recent Posts
    July 15, 2025

    Handheld Laser Scanners Drive New Growth For Sep Geospatial In Unlikely Sectors

    July 15, 2025

    Loughborough’s Here Self Storage Hits 65% Occupancy As Local Demand Grows

    July 15, 2025

    Tool theft legislation and steps to protect your tools

    July 15, 2025

    Why Digital Excellence is key to transforming Business Culture

    July 14, 2025

    Busting myths about Asset Based Lending 

    Categories
    • Books
    • Community & Charity
    • Education and Training
    • Environment
    • Events
    • Features
    • Finance
    • Food and Drink
    • Health & Safety
    • HR & Recruitment
    • In Profile
    • Legal
    • Marketing
    • News
    • Property & Development
    • Sponsored Content
    • Technology
    • Transport & Tourism
    • Wellbeing & Mental Health

    Copyright © 2020 SME Today.

    • ABOUT SME TODAY: THE GO TO RESOURCE FOR UK BUSINESSES
    • Editorial Submission Guidelines
    • Privacy
    • Contact
    Copyright © 2025 SME Today.
    • ABOUT SME TODAY: THE GO TO RESOURCE FOR UK BUSINESSES
    • Editorial Submission Guidelines
    • Privacy
    • Contact

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.