With such a plethera of business advisors out in the big wide world, you would know how to get advice exactly when you want it.   Take the small guy, in terms of business funds and acumen, rather than physical size and strength . . .  he thinks that perhaps he knows more about the business he currently works for than the owner of it and deides he’d like to run his own show without the bother of employing anyone else.  Just him.  .  His first questions are likely to be ‘what does it mean to be a sole trader?’  and  ‘What is the difference between a sole trader and being self employed’.   if you are self employed, then this means you work for yourslf, and not for an employer.  A sole-trader is stilla self-employed person and must register as such, but they are the sole owner of their business.   How about ‘sole trader vs limited company’, well although being a sole trader avoides having to register with Companies House and presenting annual accounts, the big downside is that your personal assets are not distinguished in any way from your busines assets.  In other words your creditors can and probably will will come after your house and other possessions of things go belly up.