Construction is an industry that has seen an incredible improvement over the last few months, with lots of work being given the go ahead. Here are the things that you need to know to set up your own construction business.
Sole Trader, Partnership or Company?
Deciding what to trade as is an important part of setting up your own business. A sole trader will, more often than not, find it quite hard to find work. There are lots of reasons for this, including the fact that clients see sole traders as an employee with all the rights that go with it, and agency are weary of debt transfer and the employment agency legislation that requires workers to be paid under PAYE schemes.
CIS (Construction Industry Scheme)
This is a scheme created by HMRC for tax from contractors and subcontractors. It is designed to minimise tax evasion from within the industry. It appears that lots of contractors are claiming that they are self employed, when in actual fact they are working under employment, to avoid paying National Insurance Contributions. Because there are such a large number of self employed workers in this industry, a special system was designed around them. CIS applies to all contractors and subcontractors, whether sole traders, partnerships or companies who are working within the mainstream construction industry. So, if you’re planning on falling into one of these categories, you need to read up on CIS.
Equipment
When you’re just starting out, you may not be able to buy everything you might need, especially when it comes to plant equipment. There are a few ways around this. You could find an investor to give you enough cash to buy everything you need, or, more likely, you’ll be able to find an investor to part fund your venture. In which case, take a look at Scot JCB for used plant machinery for sale. You could think about hiring out your plant machinery while not in use. If you’re looking for investors, however, you may need a comprehensive business plan to back up why you need the money and how you’ll spend it.
There is a lot more to setting up in the construction industry than these things, but these are aspects that are specific to this industry. So if you’re looking to set up a construction business, make sure that you take into account these things as you plan it out.
Photo credit: Wayne National Forest
