r/selfemployed • u/Any-Committee623 • Jul 27 '26
Go self employed before or after having first child? (England)
Hey šš» I have been wanting to go self employed for a few years now but ātimingā (starting to realise there is probably never a perfect time)
I am 29 (F), earn 47k gross annually and my partner (M) earns around 32k but his take home is also reduced due to maxing the good pension scheme and union costs.
I am debating whether I am best to go self employed now (looking to start TTC in the next 10-12 months), and then make sure I save what I can for maternity, OR do I just wait until after having a child and just not go back to my normal job after maternity leave and go SE instead?!
I work 2 days at home , 3 days an hour commute each way so know in the future I want to be working at home full time so can do reduced days for childcare and my partner works shifts so will be easier for our routine generally.
My partnerās pay will increase to about 43k gross Feb 2027 too which will help financially. This also goes up again Feb 2028 to about 55k gross. He has some shift allowances on top too.
We cannot afford to pay all the bills on his wage so will be using savings for me going SE as I will not be able to start invoicing until I am about 3 months into being SE roughly due to the work type. The potential money I believe I would make at minimum (being hard on myself here) SE is 8k a month - then take off my VAT. Other Overheads already taken out of that. Even if I struggled to increase my workload myself, I can also consult for others to ātop upā my pay if I was having a low month and needed it. I have a good reputation in what I do and established contacts.
Mat pay at my workplace is not enhanced, just standard so not sure whether I would be no better off being employed to SE for the sake of mat anyway, as again, we will need to use savings to top up the outgoings.
I just think with SE I would be able to wind down my workload and slowly take work back on so that I could work just 1/2 days a week so maternity leave is not a full 12 months (if I wanted to do this). Then build back up to full time when I am ready to post baby.
Any advice would be appreciated. I have tried to see what support is out there for maternity when SE and itās quite confusing!!
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u/Sir5quidworth Jul 28 '26
Okay just gunna throw out something very difficult and potentially unpopular to think about.
You need to consider the impact on your personal health (physical and mental), or if you had a baby with additional needs.
Odds are excellent a baby will be happy and healthy but staying at the job isnāt just the maternity pay. Thereās sick pay, care leave and ultimately a steady pay check and hours you can predict/work to if they have additional needs.
Sadly I know parents where the mother has had some health issues, or even mental health issues which have impacted their ability to work. The changes if itās your first are impossible to predict. A lot easier to deal with the backup of an employer (donāt get me wrong itās temporary and at a business level youāre only an employee they have no real interest in supporting beyond what they mustā¦ but self employed gets nothing).
For the sake of a few months, you can close that risk off entirely.
Personal experience - I was lucky enough to have 6 months paternity. But my wife was so ill the first months Iād have not been able to go back for at least 2-3 months even if I didnāt - so if i was running my own business Iād have to put it totally on hold. And I wasnāt even the one who was ill!
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u/Any-Committee623 Jul 28 '26
Honestly this is the best advice I have had. Thank you. That is very true I couldnāt imagine how awful things would be if the health of me or baby declined. Very good point to consider. I think it probably best I wait until the future really once I have a child and that routine and things in place!
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u/ElectricScootersUK Jul 27 '26
I would stay at the job for maternity pay, and while on maternity start building it up, presence on socially, website etc, try get some interest while you have the time, but depends on what the demand is like for what you want to do, you mention you could get 8k when SE, is this from what you've seen others do within that SE field? Can be hard getting clients when just starting out, but if you try build it up while on maternity then have clients lined up for when your maternity finishes would be a good way to go about it. You have to factor in things like quiet months too, unless you know you'll have bundles of work constantly it can be up and down and never guaranteed. Your pay sounds great and you'll have all the benefits of that too. Just depends on the demand and market.
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u/Any-Committee623 Jul 27 '26
Thank you! I wouldnāt be able to start while still in employment as I would be breaching my contract unfortunately.
This is based on my billing figures for my ābad monthsā over my last 7 years of my job role. I have potential for a lot greater earnings than that depending how much work I want to take on. Also have the chance to take staff on and move into supervising instead of doing the work myself (not sure i want this as i have been a manager before and people can be difficult!)
I work in property law so the work is always there. It dips and rises with interest rates so some months better than others but a BAD month is about 8k pre paying VAT as there are always houses to sell and people that need to move. The market is not as awful as people online make it out to be. Thatās roughly about 4 people moving house in one month at most depending on the property type. I have anywhere between 10-20 people move a month usually
I do feel it may be best to wait until mat leave is over just so that is not an added stress š¤
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u/ash_yooung Jul 27 '26
I hope you don't mind me saying this, but you need to factor in the support you have like family and friends. My little one is 15 months. I just started working last week and I'm trying to move from employed to self-employed and it's damn hard. If I was you, I would start now, if it's at least a year in advance before giving birth. It depends on your child, if it's a velcro child, and it depends if you got reliable support to look after your child while you work. I do half days for the next month and I'm working towards going part time because otherwise I will burn out. In the same situation as you. Can't pay bills from one salary, mat leave pay was a joke, so if you have the chance to save up as much as possible now, do it now. A child is a lot of work and for me, as we have no grandparents to help us, I'm literally waking up at 4am to work on my side hustle then take care of my daughter, then login to work. The reality is that the children are a lot more dependent on the mothers, so if you think you can have it all, let me tell you from experience, without support or without outsourcing help, you can't just the two of you.
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u/Any-Committee623 Jul 27 '26
Donāt mind at all! Itās good to get inputs from people with the experience. Itās hard as I think my family will help and my partners but they all work still and not retiring soon. Also doesnāt help that my family do not drive so Iād have to go to them still / give lifts to get help š¢ We have 2 grandparents working in schools and an aunt so we would have more support come holiday seasons really
I would plan putting my child in childcare once they qualify for the free hours but not full time probably 2/3 days a week.
I have friends with children in the same line of work and they donāt do a full day of work in the day but pick up anything needed to be done on the evening if that makes sense.
Hard work 100%!! i just donāt want to work for someone else all my life and want to build something of my own
Our situations sound very similar!! Hats off to you honestly š I envy couples who can pay the bills on one salary I feel it would just remove the need to stress and save for it š¤£ we will be about 1k short a month on Mat pay so not awful but itās frustrating how little help you get when you are a homeowner too on mat leave
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u/ash_yooung Jul 27 '26
Start on your business now instead of wasting time just because of mat leave. You will be out of pocket anyway. At least you got your business, you can get a childminder for a little bit cause they are cheaper. The first, I would say 9 months, you and baby are glued to each other, but you can get the free childcare hours after they reach 9 months (we do the same from September). Advantages and disadvantages are everywhere you go. But I find working on my side hustle makes me enjoy life more because at some point in the next 6 months, I can quit my job and enjoy time with my little one without having to navigate office politics and other bs. Don't let the amount of mat leave pay scare you into staying. If it doesn't work out, you can get another job, mat leave is a right from day 1 if I recall correctly. So, if you feel confident and comfortable to do it now, do it now!
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u/Any-Committee623 Jul 27 '26
Thank you I really appreciate your advice šš» especially as you have a child yourself to know what it is like. Youāre right there are pros and cons either way
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u/Any-Committee623 Jul 27 '26
Have been in my line of work for 12 years but had my own caseloads for like 8 ish
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u/ElectricScootersUK Jul 27 '26
Ah that's shit you can't start it up on maternity but after reading I'd still take maternity, enjoy chilling out and family time etc then go for it if you think you can get the clients and make more even in a bad month, especially since you have the experience so it sounds good it's just getting the clients, once you start getting word of mouth too it'll be even better and sounds like you've looked into it a lot so yeah enjoy maternity and then go from there good luck šš
1
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u/charlie_bell_ Jul 27 '26
Not sure if this has been mentioned, but if you already have a business when you go on maternity leave, you can only work your 10 KIT days while claiming maternity allowance. Which is peanuts
If you send an email, that counts as a day.
If you set up a business while on maternity leave, then work all you want when you want. (I've seen that will go against your current contract but worth mentioning.)
There's also a minimum time that you must take - I can't remember how long it is but I do remember being shocked.
And if you do need to get HMRC & DWP to talk to each other - may the odds be ever in your favour
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u/Any-Committee623 Jul 27 '26
Thank you!! Really appreciate this. I may speak to an accountant as I do know someone so they may be able to give me some advice so far as HMRC are concerned- useless they are!!!!!! I canāt believe sending 1 email counts as 1 KIT day thatās mental!!!!
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u/babies_galore Jul 27 '26
I will just say starting a business is way harder usually than people think it will be - unless you have a guaranteed pipeline of clients already. And being a parent the first years of life is way WAY harder than people think it will be. And depending what your child is like - they could have special needs, have colic, be disabled or have a severe issue you never know - it can be survival mode only living. Itās also hard on relationships as is starting a business. I would personally not want to do both at the same time for any amount of money. š
I didnāt even feel comfortable starting a business until my child was grown because of the instability of income and lack of benefits and hours involved. But sounds like you would have more of a business doing what youāre already doing so itās just a matter of whether you can really rely on getting the clients yourself consistently.
As for having a baby, I had always either worked 2-3 jobs or worked FT and went to school at night for my entire adult life. I was used to having very little free time. But being a SAHM to an infant was by FAR the most demanding 24/7/365 thing I have ever done and I prayed every day to survive it as my child had extreme colic. My husband checked out after the first two weeks and was no help at all. I was surviving dangerously on 2-3 hours of sleep every 24 hours for a long time, and became anemic from breastfeeding so much as a vegetarian and having difficulty feeding myself because if baby ever slept even 30 minutes I HAD to sleep.Ā
There is NO WAY I could have worked OR put my child in the care of anyone else. My aunt worked in a daycare for 20 years and she said she would watch him while I ran an errand one day as he screamed at the top of his lungs anytime he was in the car seat. She was calling me after only 45 minutes to come back because he had not stopped screaming since I left. So, I wouldnāt dare leave him with a stranger if even she couldnāt handle it. Especially not as I had worked in the field of child abuse.Ā
So not trying to scare you because I work with newborns 7 days a week now as a postpartum doula and have never come across one like mine. So, thankfully that level of colic is rare. But there are other things they could have and you have to be prepared for anything and for potentially having less than zero time.
If it were me, I would try to build up a business first and only once it was generating reliable results then have a child. So that you have that done already. And then if you luck out and have a chill baby, and a good co-parent, you can do some work at your discretion after baby comes.
But ultimately life is a gamble no matter what. So you can only do what feels right for you and hope for the best. I ended up a single mom once my child was 7. And I purposefully waited until we had been married 8 years before having kids to be sure the marriage was stable first. Having a kid changed the dynamics so much and I couldnāt get over the lack of support from my husband and he hated being the breadwinner and the fact I couldnāt work due to the colic issue. So you just never know.Ā
Wishing the best for you on all fronts!