For UK tradespeople running their own business
Build a more profitable trade business
Turn your trade into a properly run business. Practical UK guidance, tools and templates for self-employed tradespeople and small trade contractors on pricing jobs, hourly/day rates, quotes, materials, overhead, cash flow, getting paid and growing a team.
Three numbers most trades never work out
- True hourly rate — what you must charge once unbilled hours, van and overheads are counted.
- Break-even on a job — where you get paid but the business makes nothing.
- 13-week cash position — the week money runs short, spotted before it does.
15
calculators and assessments, plus 14 templates. No email required to use any of them.
Work out your rateWhere are you stuck?
Pick the problem in front of you
Each route goes straight to the guidance, calculator and template for that problem — not to a general reading list.
- I am not sure I am charging enoughStart with your true hourly rate, then rebuild one live quote from the cost up.
- I am busy but there is no moneySeparate the money, set a tax reserve and forecast the next 13 weeks.
- Customers pay me lateDeposits, written terms, same-day invoicing and a chase sequence you follow.
- Jobs overrun and evenings vanishOne enquiry-to-payment workflow, written down once.
- I want to take someone onWork out what a hire really costs before you advertise.
- I just want the numbersFifteen calculators and assessments. No sign-up, no email gate.
Tools & calculators
Do the arithmetic, then decide
Every tool shows its working, states its assumptions and lets you download or print the result.
- assessmentTrades Business Health CheckAssess pricing, cash, operations, customers and team control in one pass.
- calculatorJob Pricing CalculatorBuild a job price from labour, materials, travel, equipment, overhead and risk.
- calculatorTrue Hourly Rate CalculatorFind the hourly and day rate that recovers a full year of costs and non-billable time.
- calculatorQuote Profitability CheckerTest a quote you have already written before you send it.
- calculatorMaterials Markup CalculatorConvert cost, markup and margin — including wastage and your collection time.
Seven areas of the business
The whole business side, in order
Pricing first, because it changes every other number. Then operations, materials, payment, money, customers and team.
- How to Price and Quote Trade Jobs ProfitablyWork out what a job actually costs you, then price it so the business survives the year.7 tools · 3 templates
- Job Management & Business Systems for TradespeopleThe enquiry-to-payment system that stops jobs overrunning and evenings disappearing.3 tools · 5 templates
- Materials, Equipment & Van Costs for Trade BusinessesBuying, marking up and controlling the money that leaves before the invoice lands.4 tools · 3 templates
- How to Get Paid Faster as a TradespersonDeposits, staged payments, clean invoices and a chase process you actually follow.3 tools · 3 templates
- Cash Flow and Business Money for TradespeopleSeparation, reserves, forecasts and honest reviews of the accounts and cards trades use.4 tools · 2 templates
- Win Better Local Work and Build Your Trade ReputationWinning better work locally without living on lead platforms.2 tools · 2 templates
- Growing a Trade Business Beyond Your Own LabourHiring, subcontracting, spending control and getting off the tools deliberately.3 tools · 3 templates
Templates & downloads
Paperwork you can use on the next job
Quotes, job sheets, variation approvals, chase emails and cash-flow workbooks. Built in your browser, no email gate.
- CSVProfessional Trade Quote TemplateA quote structure that answers the questions customers ask before they say yes: what is included, what is not, when it happens, what it costs and how payment works.
- CSVQuote-to-Payment WorkflowThe full operating loop — enquiry, site visit, cost, quote, deposit, schedule, purchase, deliver, variations, completion, invoice, payment, review — with the evidence to keep at each step.
- CSVMaterial Deposit WorksheetA one-page justification for the deposit you are asking for, in the customer's language.
- CSVVariation Approval FormOne page per change. Priced, dated, signed, before the work happens.
- CSVSite Visit ChecklistThe survey record that means you never price from memory or make a second trip.
- CSVJob Completion FormSign-off evidence that prevents 'it was never finished' three weeks after the invoice.
Who is writing this
Markus Field — 23 years in the building trade
Markus Field is a time-served carpenter and joiner who spent twenty-three years on UK sites — six of them as a sole trader, seven running a small building contractor with a team of nine — before turning to writing and coaching full time. He writes everything on this site himself.
- Time-served carpenter and joiner — four-year apprenticeship, NVQ Level 3 Carpentry & Joinery.
- 23 years in the UK building trade: 6 as a sole trader, 7 as director of a limited building contractor.
- CSCS card holder; SMSTS site management and IOSH Managing Safely certificated.
- Ran a team of nine plus a regular subcontract bench, to a peak turnover of about £1.1m.
Where authority comes from
- Visible page-level evidence and limits, including sources where they have been attached.
- Calculators that show their arithmetic instead of asserting a number.
- Named real reviewers where one has been engaged — and an honest unreviewed notice where not.
How this site makes money
Two partner products, disclosed in full
Some links to business accounts and business cards are referral links. We publish the terms, the eligibility, the risks and the alternatives — and we never place credit promotions on debt or arrears content.
Rules we hold ourselves to
- Reward amounts are only shown once the live campaign terms are verified.
- Credit is never promoted to someone whose answers show essential bills are already under pressure.
- No tool inputs, figures or distress signals are ever sent to a partner or an analytics provider.
Business bank account
TideFree Tide business account with invoicing and payment links — plus up to £200 with code REFER200, subject to the qualifying steps and Tide's live terms.
£200 free cash when you open a Tide business account with code REFER200
T&Cs apply. £75 free when you complete transactions of £100 within 30 days, and another £125 free when you deposit at least £5,000 in a Tide Instant Saver within 7 days. Affiliate link.
Business credit card
Capital on TapBusiness credit card for eligible incorporated UK businesses. Use promo code SETTINGUP for 7,500 points (stated value £75) after the first qualifying card transaction within 30 days. Credit is subject to status.
7,500 bonus points (stated value £75) with promo code SETTINGUP
T&Cs apply. Get 7,500 points (worth £75) when you complete your first card transaction within 30 days of signing up. Subject to eligibility and status. Affiliate link.
One email a week. One thing to fix.
A short sequence that walks through pricing, deposits, invoicing, reserves and forecasting — one action per email, no upsells.
See what the emails cover