Transitioning From Sole Trader To Employer: Our Guide

Being a sole trader can be an effective way to launch a start-up and get your business off the ground but, as your venture grows, you may need to hire staff and expand your business accordingly. Becoming an employer can be nerve-wracking but, with the right strategy in place, you can simplify the process and build a successful team. To get started, take a look at our guide to transitioning from a sole trader to employer:

Understand your obligations

As an employer, you’ll be subject to a variety of laws and regulations. While this can seem overwhelming at first, understanding your responsibilities and obligations will make it easier to ensure compliance. For example, meeting relevant health and safety regulations is essential, so you’ll want to ensure that employees have the right working environment. Similarly, you’ll need to ensure employees have regular breaks, receive itemised payslips, and are paid at least the minimum wage. 

By researching and understanding your obligations in advance, you can ensure you have the right processes in place to meet your responsibilities as an employer before you start onboarding staff. 

Get the right insurance

Once you become an employer, you’ll be liable for actions undertaken by your staff, as well as liable for employees if they suffer accidents or injuries while completing their duties. You can mitigate the impact of this liability by having the right types of insurance in place. As an employer, you’ll need to take out employers’ liability insurance, for example, but public liability, professional indemnity, cyber liability and/or contractors’ insurance might be beneficial too. 

Find your new team

Your new workforce will be one of your biggest assets but finding the right people to join your business is critical to success. Whether you advertise new roles online or work with a recruitment agency to find talented specialists, you’ll want to ensure that you can assess potential new hires fairly and accurately. Prepare for the recruitment process by considering what questions you want to ask at interviews, determining how much experience your team will need and what types of assessments candidates will need to complete. 

Maximise staff performance

The onboarding process can enhance staff performance from the start, so be sure to have an established training regime in place. Similarly, consider how you’re going to monitor employee performance and incentivise your teams. Performance management software, like myhrtoolkit, can be an easy and effective way to achieve these goals. With access to flexible tools, document templates and training programs, you can onboard new hires, increase employee engagement and boost staff performance.

Becoming a valued employer

Taking on staff enhances your business resources and can enable you to achieve your commercial goals but gaining the trust of your teams and earning their loyalty will stand you in good stead. When you offer a competitive salary, training opportunities and motivate your staff, you’ll find that their performance and productivity increase accordingly, which is why being a proactive and valued employer can be good for you, your staff, and your business.