Summary

There is no individual way to run your self-employment business. Some people may start freelancing as a part-time project that grows to a full-time occupation, some may keep their activities as a part-time activity motivated by the lack of dependency to generate a full salary, whilst other people may jump head first into launching their venture as a full-time operation. The only factors to say which method is right are the business environment and your personal circumstances. It is also these circumstances that influence how you run your business activities that are likely to define what you consider as success—a student making £1,000 per month would be considered highly successful in most cases, whereas the same sales statistics were considered disastrous when this was achieved in the release of Simon Read's New Star Soccer 4.

Almost as important as how you decide to run your business, and most likely to be highly influential in this, is the legal formation you use. The most simple structure being a sole trader, which has significant advantages in reduced admin requirements, but also leaves you personally exposed guaranteeing all debts incurred by your business activities when things don't go to plan. Partnerships provide advantages for shared responsibility and potential access to a wider range of skills that can significantly increase the success of the business, but just one bad partner can introduce problems and expenses that undermine the contributions of everyone else. Limited companies provide an amount of legal protection and the ability to raise money by selling parts of the business to investors, but also come with much more red tape requirements.

There is no need to hire expensive office space when you are able to work from home, especially when you are starting up when any money you have will be better spent on marketing and other activities used to make and complete sales delivery. For those who find it difficult to work from home due to distractions, desk space or co-working offices are an option to have a formal place of work without the full costs of a dedicated office.