The bit before the first invoice
Starting a business is a strange mix of exciting and terrifying. There are forms to file, a structure to choose, a bank account to open and a hundred decisions that feel permanent even when they are not.
We help new businesses get the foundations right without turning the first month into an administration project. You do not need a business plan the size of a dissertation. You need to know what to register, what to charge, what to keep and who to ask when something changes.
Who it helps
- First-time business owners who are not sure whether to be a sole trader or a limited company.
- People leaving employment with a new idea, a client or a redundancy payment and a decision to make.
- Side projects becoming real where the hobby has started to look like a business.
- Established businesses taking a step up - a new premises, a first employee, a second product or a partner joining.
What is included
- Structure advice covering sole trader, partnership and limited company, including the tax and administrative differences that matter in practice.
- Registration with HMRC, Companies House and the other bodies a new business needs.
- A simple financial plan with the sales, costs and cash flow behind the first year.
- Pricing and break-even worked out from the business you are actually building.
- A bookkeeping and record-keeping setup that will still make sense when the business is busy.
- The first year's accounts and tax return, prepared with the context of how the business started.
- A regular check-in for the questions that arrive after the launch.
How it works
- A conversation about the idea. What you will sell, who will buy it and what you are hoping the business will give you.
- A recommendation on structure. The tax, the liability, the paperwork and the future plans are considered together.
- We set it up. Registrations, records, software and a clear list of what happens next.
- We stay close through the first year. The questions change as the business grows, and the advice should change with them.
A question we hear often
- Should I start as a sole trader or a limited company? There is no universal answer. A sole trader is simpler and usually cheaper to run; a limited company can suit a growing business, a partnership or somebody with significant profits. We will look at your numbers rather than guess.
- Do I need a business plan to get started? Not a long one. A short, honest forecast is more useful than a polished document nobody updates.
- I am not earning anything yet. Do I still need an accountant? Not necessarily, but a short conversation at the start can save an expensive correction later. The first chat is free.