How should you structure your business?

If you’re looking to join the 4.3 million people in the UK who made the jump into self-employment, you might be wondering how to start your new business.

Assuming you’ve weighed up the pros and cons involved and decided launching a startup is right for you, one of the first things to consider is how will you pay tax?

This requires you to choose a structure for your new business. The three most popular options are sole proprietorship, general partnership or limited company.

Last year, operating as a sole trader was the most common structure as around 3.2m sole traders accounted for 56% of the UK’s entire private-sector business population.

By comparison, there were 2m actively-trading companies and 384,000 general partnerships, making up 37% and 7% of the business population, respectively. You can also be a limited liability partnership.

The vast majority of those sole proprietors are genuine one-man bands; that’s to say they don’t have any employees (in an official capacity, at least).

There’s no rhyme or reason for going it alone and it’s worth being aware of the key options on the table when you start a business. You can also change your business’s structure whenever you like, although that can prove costly.