I was a self employed courier for 10 years and really enjoyed it. (Too many idiots on the road now though tbh.)
Majority of your work will be sub contract work and, as contracts come and go, make sure you're one step ahead by ensuring where your next work is coming from.
I would tell the tax office about your self employment straight away and register for Class 4 NI contributions (about £4 a week).
I was also recommended a company to lease a van from but as this is not a legal part of sub contracting you are free to source your own van and I saved about 40% on what I was recommended. You will, however, have to pay for livery if it is required by UK Mail.
A very good accounts ledger is available at a reasonable price from Staples (this is the one I used and is simple to use) and you simply record all income and expenditure, keep all receipts and hand it to your Accountant at the end of the year who will tell you how much tax you owe. He will definitely save you money and charge you around £150 for his service.
You will also need Public Liability and Goods In Transit Insurance both of which will need to cover you for around £1m. Public Liability I think was around £100 per year but I think Goods In Transit was around £80 per month (I could be wrong though as I gave it up 15 years ago).
I'm sure there are other things that I can't recall at the moment but any other questions just ask and most of all, good luck and enjoy your new venture.
Majority of your work will be sub contract work and, as contracts come and go, make sure you're one step ahead by ensuring where your next work is coming from.
I would tell the tax office about your self employment straight away and register for Class 4 NI contributions (about £4 a week).
I was also recommended a company to lease a van from but as this is not a legal part of sub contracting you are free to source your own van and I saved about 40% on what I was recommended. You will, however, have to pay for livery if it is required by UK Mail.
A very good accounts ledger is available at a reasonable price from Staples (this is the one I used and is simple to use) and you simply record all income and expenditure, keep all receipts and hand it to your Accountant at the end of the year who will tell you how much tax you owe. He will definitely save you money and charge you around £150 for his service.
You will also need Public Liability and Goods In Transit Insurance both of which will need to cover you for around £1m. Public Liability I think was around £100 per year but I think Goods In Transit was around £80 per month (I could be wrong though as I gave it up 15 years ago).
I'm sure there are other things that I can't recall at the moment but any other questions just ask and most of all, good luck and enjoy your new venture.
I could change my opinion, but then we'd both be wrong.