I started back as a sole trader last autumn. Originally the idea was to start gently and feel my way back into it one step at a time. I planned to not have to invest too much at first. I knew that most of my tools would need replacing but hoped to do it slowly and softly softly.
I probably could have thought about it a bit more before I jacked my job tbh

But hey ho, I jacked the job and quickly found that my vehicle wasn't up to it for various reasons. So I had to get a van. Massive expense number one. This was the start of um fairly major expense!
As it stands, I've been working hard for the last few months and have been making the best money I have in years...but pretty much every penny is having to get immediately plunged back into the business. Personally I'm pretty insolvent! Part of the cause is that I'm offering a fairly large range of services and that means lots of tools. Plus, my pet love is wood and professional woodworking power tools cost a fair bit, to say the least. The second hand market is crazy at the moment, to the point that there's little point in me buying from it. You could pay 7/10ths the cost of new (with a three year warranty) for tools with no warranty that could well have been flogged and could need new brushes, armatures etc in next to no time. I've bought cannily but all the same, quality tools that are fit for purpose, don't come cheap.
I've just got a job lined up to replace an external wooden staircase and high level deck area for a first floor flat. It's the kind of job I love but it meant more tools. A new compound mitre saw for example and a beefy hammer drill for getting good fixings into the stonework. I'm not joking, the cost of those two tools alone pretty much wipes out any money I'll get from the job!
So far I've sold all my guitars bar a strat and my trusty acoustic to help out and now my wonderful Santa Cruz bike is going to go too.
It's financial carnage

But, I care not one jot. I'm nearly there tool wise now. (Well, the basic stuff anyway. An airless sprayer will have to get bought at some point) The work is coming in and I've been making a few good contacts. I'm developing a relationship with an interior designer/property manager which has just yielded it's first contract and which could lead to many more and even today, I was approached by another local trader that does gardens and landscaping, who has heard of my work and who has clients that need my sort of work doing. So things are progressing. Sooner or later, the major outlays will slow down and I may actually be able to make a living!

But the real reason that I don't care about this initial period of skintness, is that I'm actually 'happy' again. As we all know, working for bosses/owners can be a real drag. Since I got back to Kernow I spent years working for a company that gives not one shit for it's employees. That really does flog them to death and treat them like dirt. It was a big part of my PTSD woes. The stress that this firm caused me. All that stress is now gone. eg, now if I have to work with an A hole or two (which I haven't so far) I know it will only be for a short time and then I'll never have to suffer their shite again. The job gets done by me, my way, to my standard. No forced corner cutting just, this is what I do, this is what it costs and if you don't like that, give the contract to someone else! It's a big thing that!

Then ofc there's the Babylon side of it that AndyH and I have been harping on about for years. All this expenditure on tools, is tax deductible.

I could go on and on and on but I'll leave it here... a currently skint but happy dub

Oh, good for you dubs. The start-up is always the worst bit and most expensive. But that settles and your life and labours become your own. I want this to go so well for you.

And then the tax too, yes. Everyone should come off P.A.Y.E. and start taking control of their own tax claims and discounts - you don't see CEOs and politicians etc on P.A.Y.E., because they can claim back from the shoes on their feet, through their own damned food, to their fuel and household electricity! No wonder they end up paying next to nothing.

Way to go. Clever you.

Dubs, can I ask - were you "frightened" about going back into self employment?

Fair question
I observed and still do, a concern that there may not be the work. Even though things have gone well thus far I do sometimes find myself starting to worry that it may end up that things dry up.
But, it doesn't take long to go, oh well whatever will be will be and if that does happen, I'll just have to do summat else. Get a job again or summat.
It ties in with the whole living in the moment thing really. Why worry about stuff that may or may not happen but that definitely hasn't happened?
I think it's wise to have a weather eye available of course and I have done a little bit of promotion to get my name 'out there' a bit but really I'm just going from day to day and concentrating on what I'm doing.
So, frightened? No. Reasonably aware of some potential for prolonged skintness? Yes

Thank you dubs. I asked because I have recently thought of going it alone myself again recently - and, although I have never been anything other than self employed in the past I have found myself a tad unnerved by the idea and backed off it. I need to look at it again and develop the old/right attitude again!

You know that I'm going to say, GO FOR IT!
Half the battle I think is to not take on a big debt to do it. If you were to do that I think you're just making a huge amount of stress and pressure for yourself and that could be bad.
Yes, I've spent a reasonably large bucket of fiat to do it myself but not through debt. I've reinvested a lot as I've gone along and liquidated some assets. This way, if it all goes belly up I'm not saddled with the stress of paying anyone back. Ofc a lot of this depends on what you want to do and how much the set up costs are going to be.

Sounds awesome Dubs, I'm rooting for you mate

Arggghhh!! I've taken some time 'out' to do some important unpaid stuff, like sort the van a bit more, service it, organize and do all my paperwork and...build a website.
I'm trying to build a site today using Wix.com and argghhhhh!!!! This is harder than I'd hoped. The site itself is easy enough to use but I don't have a clue what I'm doing, what to put on it, how to SEO it, or anything. Arggghhh!!!

Aw no not the guitars you were building up a mint collection!

Yup, there were some beauties but to be fair most of them were bought as investments. Rather than stick spare cash in a bank I put it into decent guitars. To be honest I did quite well too, bought at the right prices and actually made some money When this first phase of re-investing every penny is over I'll no doubt be buying some more guitars

I think the monobrow has gone grey but I got the website done. Trouble is the SEO is crap, I can't work out how to verify it with google and it doesn't show up in a google search yet

Lol, when you don't know what you're doing this SEO stuff is a nightmare. So far I've worked out how to get google to recognise the business but have to wait for a verification code to come in the mail. As for meta tags, alt text and stuff.....umm...yeah.

Don't worry, it's a nightmare when you do know what you're doing! I don't know why we don't just hand over the Earth Skeleton Key to Google and be done with it.

Tbh that's pretty much what it feels like you're doing isn't it!

Ruddy hell, this stuff is exhausting!!! I'm not even sure that I've got the onsite SEO right for starters but have been trying to set up a presence in as many directories as possible to create links to my website. How tedious could it be!!! And to cp it all, it seems to have opened the floodgates to all manner of cold calls from everyone form a company working on a magazine for plod and the fire service to companies in India claiming they can spread the site's presence....free....
I'm looking forward to this all being done that's for sure.