Running a one-person shop
No employer withholding your taxes, covering your health, or filling in when you are out. Six guides on the parts of the job that are yours alone, with sources, and with the state differences flagged.
The six guides
General information, not tax, legal or insurance advice. Each guide ends with its sources.
Taxes when you're self-employed
No employer is withholding anything. Quarterly estimates, self-employment tax, and the few deductions that matter most for a trades business.
Health, disability and retirement with no employer
Nobody is matching your 401(k) or covering you when you can't work. Here is what is available and how the tax treatment works.
Getting paid: contracts, deposits, and lien rights
When you are the whole company, one unpaid job hurts. A written contract and a few dated notices protect your cash.
Working as a sub for general contractors
1099 income, insurance paperwork, and payment clauses. The three things a solo sub should understand before signing a subcontract.
Staying solo on purpose
Not every trades business should grow. The case for a high-margin one-person shop, its capacity limit, and how to tell when hiring would actually pay.
Backup when you're out: illness, vacation, and peer partners
When you are the whole company, your absence is an outage. Plan the cover before you need it.
Set up
The basics every solo shop starts with.
Software sized for a one-person shop
Tools whose vendors size them for a single user, listed with the signals on each directory page.
Browse solo-sized tools →Licensing by state
Licence rules decide what you can bid and who can cover for you. They differ state to state.
Licensing overview →Planning to grow later? See the first hire guide.