Sole Trader or Business?

[Tango]

Thanks to @OnPoint for creating the Business or personal account thread - you reminded me i been meaning to post this topic for the last week!

So guys, I suspect many like me operate as a sole trader when first starting up but my question is what do you do once you're large enough to work full time as a windy? - Do you continue as a sole trader or do you setup your own proper company?

From my POV being a ST means easy paperwork but no real expansion opportunity whereas a company means plenty of opportunity to grow but a ton of hassle. Maybe i'm missing something? - I once worked for a private hire cab company years ago who's directors were operating on a "trading as" basis. They'd been going for years and had no real intention of registering a proper company - worked well enough for them!

 

[Part Timer]

Personally if you're staying on your own then I'd stay as a sole trader. If your intention is to be VAT registered and have a few vans on the road then I'd set up a business as soon as I got to the VAT threshold. Being a Limited Company hasn't got any tax advantages, at sub £60k a year, that it had 10 years ago.