Sole trader - one business or two?

horseygirl2014 · 9 October 2018 at 1:33PM

Hi all, hope someone can help point me in the right direction

i run website A as Business A, and have done for some time. all suppliers etc are under my/business a's name. Im a sole trader

Im setting up another website, with ive had to call Business B (for domain etc)

they sell the same items etc - but are aimed at different slighty different markets (also correcting some early beginner mistakes) as they sell the same stock, rather than have to reapply for trade accounts, one 'pot' of stock would be used to fulfil orders.

my accountant will be sorting out the tax stuff - but my question is -

How do i show that website B is different to website A, but owned by the same person?? Do i set up as a whole new business for B, and then use A to dropship, or can i Just set up B, and put B branding on my orders, showing that the trading address is the same.

If i set up another ebay account (for instance) - i could call it whatever i wanted and would still be trading as me - either as me or as business A

thanks for your time, hopefully the question will make sense

Aquamania · 9 October 2018 at 2:07PM

horseygirl2014 wrote: »

Hi all, hope someone can help point me in the right direction

i run website A as Business A, and have done for some time. all suppliers etc are under my/business a's name. Im a sole trader

Im setting up another website, with ive had to call Business B (for domain etc)

they sell the same items etc - but are aimed at different slighty different markets (also correcting some early beginner mistakes) as they sell the same stock, rather than have to reapply for trade accounts, one 'pot' of stock would be used to fulfil orders.

my accountant will be sorting out the tax stuff - but my question is -

How do i show that website B is different to website A, but owned by the same person?? Do i set up as a whole new business for B, and then use A to dropship, or can i Just set up B, and put B branding on my orders, showing that the trading address is the same.

If i set up another ebay account (for instance) - i could call it whatever i wanted and would still be trading as me - either as me or as business A

thanks for your time, hopefully the question will make sense

How do i show that website B is different to website A?
You are using a different domain name. Presumably the content will be different too, even if it sells the same products. You can put whatever you want on your own websites.

but owned by the same person??
Certain documents must include details of business ownership. No reason you cannot also put these details on your website, or perhaps you must do? Presumably your terms and conditions, which are found on most wenbsites, will also indiacte who owns the business.

Also, as long as you don't use an anonymiser service, ownership of the domain name will be available for all to see via whois

If i set up another ebay account (for instance) - i could call it whatever i wanted and would still be trading as me - either as me or as business A
As a business on ebay, you have to disclose your name and address which will be included on all listings.

Remember, you and whatever business(es) you operate are one and the same - you!
You can trade under as many different business names as you wish, but as I said, ownershaip particulars must be included in certian documentation.

Edit: The ownership details of the business should be included on your website(s)
https://www.lbhf.gov.uk/sites/default/files/section_attachments/display_of_ownership_details_tcm21-192819.pdf

Thant includes your existing website

horseygirl2014 · 9 October 2018 at 3:03PM

Thank you Aquamania!

This is what i thought, but having someone else show me the bits of paper(!) really helped!

p.s. - all details on current website

Sole trader - one business or two?

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