The first customers for a new trade or home service business usually come from people who already know you. Friends, family, neighbours and people you’ve worked for before. The next ones come from being easy to find when a stranger searches for your trade in your town. If you’re starting a trade business, this guide covers both, in the order we’d do them in your first few months. Once you’re up and running, our main guide on how to get more work as a tradesman covers every channel.
Do this in your first week
- Write a list of 30 people who know what you do. Old customers, old bosses, friends, family, neighbours.
- Send each of them a short personal message saying you’ve started on your own and what you do.
- Set up your free Google Business Profile, even before your first job.
- Decide which towns you’ll cover. Keep it close to home to start.
On this page
- Check these before your first job
- Start with people who already know you
- Get on Google before your first job
- Make your first jobs bring the next ones
- Getting the word out locally
- Should you use lead sites when you’re starting out?
- Do you need a website straight away?
- First customers by trade
- Questions people ask when starting a trade business
- Where to go next
Check these before your first job
Most of these depend on your trade. GOV.UK covers each one in full. Check the ones that apply before you take that kind of job.
- Telling HMRC. GOV.UK says you can start trading straight away. You must register for Self Assessment as a sole trader if you earn more than £1,000 in a tax year. If you need to send a tax return, tell HMRC by 5 October after the end of the tax year you started in. After that you could get a penalty.
- Insurance. You must have employers’ liability insurance as soon as you employ someone. Public liability insurance isn’t a legal requirement, but business.gov.uk says almost all businesses need it.
- Gas work. HSE says anyone employed to work on gas appliances in people’s homes must be a Gas Safe registered engineer.
- Electrical work. Check the building regulations where you work. GOV.UK says some jobs, like replacing a fuse box or changing electrics near a bath or shower, need building regulations approval. Joining a competent person scheme lets you self-certify that work.
- Taking waste away. If your business carries waste, you must register as a waste carrier in England. GOV.UK says it’s usually free if you only carry waste you produce yourself. Otherwise there’s a fee.
Start-up costs, pricing and equipment vary too much by trade for us to cover well. This guide sticks to finding customers.
Start with people who already know you
In our view, people who already trust you are the fastest way to fill your first few weeks. It costs nothing but your time.
- Tell people properly. In our experience a short personal message gets more replies than a post. Say what you do, where you cover and how to reach you.
- Ask for one name. “Do you know anyone who needs a plumber?” (or whatever your trade is) is easier to answer than “spread the word”.
- Past bosses and other trades. Firms you’ve worked for, and trades who work the same houses, may have more work than they can take. Ask if they’d pass some on or use you as a subcontractor. Check any contract you signed with an old employer first.
- Your own street. In our experience neighbours notice a new van. Make it easy for them to remember who you are.
Get on Google before your first job
Your Google Business Profile is the free listing that puts you on Google Maps. You can have one if you work from home. If you go to your customers rather than them coming to you, Google says to hide your address and list the areas you cover instead.
Set it up in your first week, not once you’re busy. A new profile has no reviews yet. In our view, photos of your own work and a full list of services can do more of the talking at the start. Here’s how to set up your Google Business Profile for a trade.
Make your first jobs bring the next ones
In our view, your first ten jobs matter more than any advert. Each one can bring a review, a photo and a referral.
- Ask for a review the day you finish. Our free Google review link and QR code generator makes the link and a card to print.
- Take a photo of every finished job and add it to your profile with the town.
- Ask for a referral when the customer says they’re pleased.
- Keep their details so you can remind them next year. The rules on texting past customers are in our main guide on getting more work.
Getting the word out locally
Once people you know have heard, widen the circle. These cost little or nothing.
- Local Facebook and community groups. Check the group’s rules on business posts first. Answer questions helpfully rather than posting adverts.
- Business networking groups. Groups like BNI are built around members passing work to each other. In our view they suit trades because so much of the work is local.
- Leaflets and knocking on doors. Target the streets near jobs you’ve done. Door-to-door selling is legal. Surrey Trading Standards says ignoring a request to leave is an offence under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. Business Companion, the Trading Standards guidance service, says “no cold calling” stickers must be respected.
- Your van. Your name, trade and number, big enough to read from across the road.
Should you use lead sites when you’re starting out?
Yes, if you need work in your first weeks before anyone is searching for your name. In our view that’s when lead sites like Checkatrade, MyBuilder and Bark are most useful. They charge in different ways, and you stop getting leads when you stop paying. Here’s how Checkatrade, MyBuilder, Bark and TrustATrader compare.
Use them to fill gaps while your profile, reviews and word of mouth build up. Don’t let them become the only way the phone rings.
Do you need a website straight away?
Not on day one, in our view. A complete Google profile and a few reviews can do more in your first month. But a simple website gives people you’re recommended to somewhere to check you out, and it’s the one place online you fully own. When you’re ready, here’s how much a website costs for a trade business.
First customers by trade
Figures below are Google Keyword Planner searches in the UK, October 2025 to September 2026.
Cleaners and window cleaners
“How to start a cleaning business” averages 880 searches a month, the most of any trade in our data. In our view, regular domestic work helps a new cleaner because each customer can come back every week or fortnight. Ask your first customers if friends or neighbours would like the same. Window cleaning grows street by street in the same way. Start-up costs and equipment aren’t covered here. Once you’re past the first customers, here’s our page on marketing for cleaning companies.
Gardeners and landscapers
Garden work is seasonal. “Decking” searches reached 40,500 in April and May 2026 and “fencing” 40,500 in March and April, against 6,600 and 14,800 in December 2025. These are broad searches and some will be DIYers. Even so, in our view it’s worth getting your profile and first reviews in place over winter so you’re ready for spring. More on marketing for landscapers.
Plumbers and heating engineers
“Boiler service” searches peak in October. They reached 27,100 searches in October 2025 against 8,100 in May 2026. If you do gas work, show your Gas Safe number on everything. Our guide on how to get plumbing leads covers the rest.
Electricians
“EICR” searches stayed between 18,100 and 27,100 a month all year, which suggests steady demand. Show your competent person scheme if you’re in one. More in SEO for electricians.
Roofers
“Roof repair” searches peaked at 12,100 in October 2025, against 3,600 in May 2026. Our guide on how to get roofing leads covers the rest.
Questions people ask when starting a trade business
How do I get customers for a new trade business?
Start with people who already know you. Tell them properly and ask for one name each. Then set up your Google Business Profile, ask every customer for a review and use lead sites only to fill gaps.
How do I advertise a new trade business for free?
Use your Google Business Profile, reviews, word of mouth, community groups and your van. They cost nothing or very little. In our view, start there before paying for anything.
Do I need a website to start a trade business?
Not to start, in our view. A complete Google profile and a few reviews come first. A website helps once people start looking you up after a recommendation.
Should I join Checkatrade when I’m starting out?
It can help fill your diary in the first weeks. Work out whether it pays with your own numbers using our guide is Checkatrade worth it.
How long until I’m busy?
Nobody can honestly give you a date. It depends on your trade, your towns, how many people you know and how many others do the same work near you.
Where to go next
Once the first customers are in, the job is keeping the phone ringing. That’s what our guide on how to get more work as a tradesman is for.
If you’d rather have help being found on Google, that’s what our local SEO for trades does.
Want to see how many people search for your trade in your towns, and which firms show up for those searches now? Our free local forecast shows you.