DSR and Sole Trader

bobbyh_2

Hello All,

I am just working out my self-employment itinerary and decided to ask Business Link and HMRC about advertising on leaflets, websites and so on. The message I received was basically as follows:

You do not need to put your business address on Stationery etc for normal door-to-door leaflets for example. It is only when submitting,supplying and signing something that you then publicly need to state your full details (i.e. on an invoice and letterhead). So having a website that sells a service and/or product needs to state your business address whereas a business card does not. An example of this is a business card from a Taxi firm whereby they state Heathrow £35 call 0207 1234567 with no business address on that business card.

Furthermore, you do not need to put your full address on the leaflets. You could just put Mayfair,London as opposed to 23 Berkerley Sq, Mayfair, London WC1. However, if you then do business whereby you write out an invoice you then need to state the full address.

Question:

So now I know I can pump out leaflets without being stalked!, and only give my full address to those who genuinely respond to my ad leaflets,
should I state I am a Trading As: Bob Holdsworth (Sole Trader)....Mayfair, London or just Trading as: Bob Holdsworth....Mayfair, London?

Business Link and HMRC say the sole trader wording does not matter - they care more about the Trading As statement in respect that you are not claiming to be a LTD Company.

So my question is Does SOLE TRADER make you look even more self-employed (more not LTD) or does it actually show more honesty?

BobbyH

MyUserName_4

For privacy concerns, perhaps you could get yourself a PO Box? Costs start at around £95 per year.

Edit: Oops skimmed original post. As far as naming goes, I believe you can call yourself whatever you like, the only exception being if a Ltd company, with the "same name" as yours, that deals in the same business were to lodge a complaint that your trading name was deliberately misleading customers and you were trading off the Ltd company's established reputation etc. etc.

Being a Ltd company just allows you to use the suffix "Ltd", which you can't legally use without registering as a limited company first.

Oh and honesty doesn't come into it.

DVardysShadow

bobbyh wrote: »

... You do not need to put your business address on Stationery etc for normal door-to-door leaflets for example. ....
Question:

So now I know I can pump out leaflets without being stalked!, and only give my full address to those who genuinely respond to my ad leaflets,
should I state I am a Trading As: Bob Holdsworth (Sole Trader)....Mayfair, London or just Trading as: Bob Holdsworth....Mayfair, London?

Business Link and HMRC say the sole trader wording does not matter - they care more about the Trading As statement in respect that you are not claiming to be a LTD Company.

So my question is Does SOLE TRADER make you look even more self-employed (more not LTD) or does it actually show more honesty?

BobbyH

If you want to appear honest, an address counts for more than whether you are Ltd or Sole Trader.

In this house, any flyer with just a mobile number on it goes straight to recycling. Why people bother to put out flyers without saying exactly who they are beats me.

And while we are on flyers, put them all the way through the door - again you are wasting some of your effort if they are hanging out.

KiKi

bobbyh wrote: »

should I state I am a Trading As: Bob Holdsworth (Sole Trader)....Mayfair, London or just Trading as: Bob Holdsworth....Mayfair, London?

Business Link and HMRC say the sole trader wording does not matter - they care more about the Trading As statement in respect that you are not claiming to be a LTD Company.

So my question is Does SOLE TRADER make you look even more self-employed (more not LTD) or does it actually show more honesty?

BobbyH

I wouldn't put 'Sole Trader' at all. Depending on what you do, many people wouldn't know what it meant (let's face it, many people don't know what the term 'ltd' even really means unless they deal with ltd companies), and they might be confused, or wonder what the implications are of employing a sole trader.

Just put your name and address; the sheer fact that you don't have a company name with a 'ltd' by it means that businesses who need to know will understand you're a sole trader, and lay people who don't know what 'sole trader' means won't be confused.

HTH
KiKi

bobbyh_2

Thanks for all your comments so far.

Kiki: What about the wording Trading As? Would you put that or just leave it simply as Name and Address?

DVardysShadow: Interesting comments! What is your interpretation of a Half-In/Half-Out (Hanging Out) leaflet? Do you interpret this as sloppy/lazy on behalf of the company or on behalf of the messenger boy (junk mailer)? Also, what do you classify as a good leaflet.....in other words, what do you see as a positive/attention grabber/etc. Some pointers on what is best regarding leaflet dropping and making sure it does not get binned would be appreciated if you have the time.

Regards

Bob

DVardysShadow

The hanging leaflet is sloppy. But the main thing is that it shows to the whole world that no one is in - and depending how long it stays, it could show that your house is empty. So would you give business to someone who is giving such an indicator to potential burglars?

Of course, many leaflets will end up binned - but if they have at least been scanned, count it as a success. Your message needs to be fairly direct - what you do, who you are and how to contact you - so that it can be evaluated on a quick scan and hopefully be retained. It is also good to have good spelling and grammar - if you don't, it shows you are slapdash.

Beyond that, there is probably no magic of presentation that will make any significant difference.

Hammyman

bobbyh wrote: »

So my question is Does SOLE TRADER make you look even more self-employed (more not LTD) or does it actually show more honesty?

BobbyH

Just put your business name on it. People on the whole don't know the difference between Ltd and a sole trader anyway and would just look at the (Sole Trader) and go "eh??".

A simple way to resolve this is to ask yourself if you've ever seen (sole trader) on any leaflets, business cards etc etc etc. I think the answer will be no.

bobbyh_2

Thanks everyone, your help has been appropriate and taken notice of. I will just use Name and Address and clearly state my business details in the heading of the leaflet for quick scan purposes.

A special thanks must go to DVardysShadow. I did not even think of the burglar aspect. That's a golden piece of advise for anyone I think. Thanks DVardysShadow.

Regards

Bob

anamenottaken

You only use "Trading As" when you are not trading under your own name.

So "Trading as Bob Holdsworth" would need to have another name before it, eg "Jane Brown trading as Bob Holdsworth".

If Bob Holdsworth is your name, you are not trading "as" you are simply trading.

You can also have limited companies which "trade as" another name.

Oh, and getting a PO Box number doesn't protect your address - Royal Mail should release it. They used to do so quite readily through the website I think or over the phone - but the last time I looked that wasn't a service I could find on the site.

Hammyman

anamenottaken wrote: »

You only use "Trading As" when you are not trading under your own name.

You don't even need to do it then. Under normal circumstances there's no need to mention your name at all. The only time you mandatorily need to put Joe Bloggs T/A Handyman on business cards, stationary and signage is if you're bankrupt and not yet discharged.

bobbyh_2

Now I'm confused

If I am not bankrupt, which I am not, and I am Bob Holdsworth (which I am) using the business name/identity of Paintbrush Services; do I put Bob Holdsworth......Mayfair, London or do I need to put Bob Holdsworth Trading As Paintbrush Services......Mayfair, London?

Regards

Bob