By Tim Adler on Small Business UK – Advice and Ideas for UK Small Businesses and SMEs
What are some examples of sole traders? A sole trader can do or be anything really – the key thing is that, legally, there is no distinction between you and your business when it comes to finances, assets and responsibility for debts and liabilities.
What’s great about being a sole trader is that it is the simplest business structure to register with HMRC and, unlike setting up a limited company, there’s no fee. You also have full control over the enterprise and get to keep all your own profits after tax.
This simple structure and setup lends itself to business ideas with relatively low start-up costs and barriers to entry. Nevertheless, a sole trader operation can be very lucrative and here are six great examples.
Personal trainer
Gardener
Hairdresser
Private chef
Photographer
Graphic designer
AI and sole tradersThe boom in accessible, powerful AI, like large language models (LLM) and photo and video generation software, has been something of a game-changer for sole traders. Firstly, because it’s democratising access to the tools, capabilities and the scale of production that would only have been accessible to larger teams or highly-skilled individuals. Secondly, because