Guides by trade
What to charge, what you need, and how to get clients — by trade.
80 guides
Cleaning quote template: what to include
A complete cleaning quote structure you can copy straight into a document, plus what each section is protecting you from.
4 min readBy tradeDo beauticians need insurance?
What insurance a self-employed beautician actually needs in the UK, which cover is legally required and which only feels like it is, what it costs, and the exclusions that catch people out.
6 min readBy tradeDo childminders need insurance?
What insurance a self-employed childminder actually needs in the UK, which cover is legally required and which only feels like it is, what it costs, and the exclusions that catch people out.
6 min readBy tradeDo dog groomers need insurance?
What insurance a self-employed dog groomer actually needs in the UK, which cover is legally required and which only feels like it is, what it costs, and the exclusions that catch people out.
6 min readBy tradeDo dog walkers need insurance?
What insurance a self-employed dog walker actually needs in the UK, which cover is legally required and which only feels like it is, what it costs, and the exclusions that catch people out.
6 min readBy tradeDo driving instructors need insurance?
What insurance a self-employed driving instructor actually needs in the UK, which cover is legally required and which only feels like it is, what it costs, and the exclusions that catch people out.
6 min readBy tradeDo handymen need insurance?
What insurance a self-employed handyman actually needs in the UK, which cover is legally required and which only feels like it is, what it costs, and the exclusions that catch people out.
6 min readBy tradeDo I need a waste carrier licence?
One of the most commonly missed legal requirements in the trades. Here's who needs to register, which tier applies, and why fly-tipping liability follows your waste.
5 min readBy tradeDo massage therapists need insurance?
What insurance a self-employed massage therapist actually needs in the UK, which cover is legally required and which only feels like it is, what it costs, and the exclusions that catch people out.
6 min readBy tradeDo mobile hairdressers need insurance?
What insurance a self-employed mobile hairdresser actually needs in the UK, which cover is legally required and which only feels like it is, what it costs, and the exclusions that catch people out.
6 min readBy tradeDo mobile mechanics need insurance?
What insurance a self-employed mobile mechanic actually needs in the UK, which cover is legally required and which only feels like it is, what it costs, and the exclusions that catch people out.
6 min readBy tradeDo personal trainers need insurance?
What insurance a self-employed personal trainer actually needs in the UK, which cover is legally required and which only feels like it is, what it costs, and the exclusions that catch people out.
6 min readBy tradeDo photographers need insurance?
What insurance a self-employed photographer actually needs in the UK, which cover is legally required and which only feels like it is, what it costs, and the exclusions that catch people out.
6 min readBy tradeDo self-employed cleaners need insurance?
What insurance a self-employed self-employed cleaner actually needs in the UK, which cover is legally required and which only feels like it is, what it costs, and the exclusions that catch people out.
6 min readBy tradeDo self-employed electricians need insurance?
What insurance a self-employed electrician actually needs in the UK, which cover is legally required and which only feels like it is, what it costs, and the exclusions that catch people out.
6 min readBy tradeDo self-employed gardeners need insurance?
What insurance a self-employed self-employed gardener actually needs in the UK, which cover is legally required and which only feels like it is, what it costs, and the exclusions that catch people out.
6 min readBy tradeDo self-employed plumbers need insurance?
What insurance a self-employed plumber actually needs in the UK, which cover is legally required and which only feels like it is, what it costs, and the exclusions that catch people out.
6 min readBy tradeDo window cleaners need insurance?
What insurance a self-employed window cleaner actually needs in the UK, which cover is legally required and which only feels like it is, what it costs, and the exclusions that catch people out.
6 min readBy tradeDo you need a licence to be a dog groomer?
Grooming itself needs no licence in England, which surprises people. Here's what genuinely applies, and the adjacent services that do tip you into licensing.
5 min readBy tradeDo you need a licence to be a mobile hairdresser?
Hairdressing is one of the least regulated trades in the UK, which surprises people. Here's what genuinely applies to a mobile hairdresser, and the local exceptions.
5 min readBy tradeGas Safe registration: what it costs and who needs it
Gas Safe registration is legally mandatory, not a trade badge. Here's what it requires, what it realistically costs to get and keep, and how the ACS system works.
5 min readBy tradeHow much should a cleaner charge per hour?
Real 2026 UK hourly rates for domestic cleaning, the gap between independent and agency pricing, and how to move from hourly to per-job rates without losing work.
4 min readBy tradeHow much should a dog groomer charge?
Real 2026 UK pricing for dog grooming — by size, by service, and by mobile versus salon — plus how to structure a price list that stops you undercharging.
4 min readBy tradeHow much should a dog walker charge?
What UK dog walkers charge in 2026 by walk length and type, and how to structure pricing so group walks make the business viable.
4 min readBy tradeHow much should a driving instructor charge?
What UK driving instructors charge per hour in 2026, how regional rates differ, and how to set a rate from your actual costs rather than by copying the instructor down the road.
4 min readBy tradeHow much should a gardener charge?
What UK gardeners charge in 2026 by hour, half-day and day, how regional rates differ, and why a minimum charge matters more than your headline rate.
4 min readBy tradeHow much should a handyman charge per hour?
What UK handymen actually charge in 2026 by hour and by day, and how to structure rates so short jobs don't cost you money.
4 min readBy tradeHow much should a massage therapist charge?
What UK massage therapists charge in 2026, how self-employed rates differ from salon or spa work, and where the pricing headroom actually is.
4 min readBy tradeHow much should a mobile hairdresser charge?
What UK mobile hairdressers actually charge in 2026, how the discount to salon pricing works, and how to price travel without losing bookings.
4 min readBy tradeHow much should a painter and decorator charge?
What UK painters and decorators charge in 2026 by day and by room, how London differs, and how to quote so materials don't eat your margin.
4 min readBy tradeHow much should a personal trainer charge?
What UK personal trainers actually charge per session in 2026, how much location and specialism change it, and how to structure packages that pay better than hourly.
4 min readBy tradeHow much should a virtual assistant charge?
What UK virtual assistants charge in 2026 across hourly, retainer and package models, and how to move away from selling hours.
4 min readBy tradeHow much should a wedding photographer charge?
What UK wedding photographers charge in 2026 for full-day coverage, how regional pricing differs, and how to build packages that don't reduce you to an hourly rate.
4 min readBy tradeHow much should a window cleaner charge?
What UK window cleaners charge in 2026 for regular rounds and one-off cleans, and how to structure pricing so a dense round beats a high headline rate.
4 min readBy tradeHow much to charge as a baby sleep consultant
Sleep consultancy is one of the few small services where almost nobody charges by the hour, because what parents are buying is not a call. It is a fortnight of knowing someone will answer.
5 min readBy tradeHow much to charge as a chimney sweep
Chimney sweeping is priced per flue, booked seasonally, and sold on a certificate most customers do not know they need until their insurer or their solicitor asks for it.
4 min readBy tradeHow much to charge as a doula
A birth doula fee looks enormous next to the hours worked and reasonable next to what it actually costs you: several weeks in which you cannot book anything else, travel, or be more than an hour away.
5 min readBy tradeHow much to charge as a farrier
Farriery prices vary more by postcode than almost any other UK trade, and the reason is not skill. It is how far apart the horses are and how many you can shoe in a day.
5 min readBy tradeHow much to charge as a funeral celebrant
Funeral celebrancy has two quite separate markets with different prices, and which one you build your practice on matters more than the fee you set in either.
5 min readBy tradeHow much to charge as a lash technician
A lash client is not worth their full set price. They are worth roughly seven hundred pounds a year if they keep coming back, and every pricing decision should follow from that rather than from the first appointment.
4 min readBy tradeHow much to charge as a mobile bike mechanic
Mobile bike work has one problem a workshop does not: you cannot carry every part, so the job you quoted on the phone is sometimes a different job once you see the bike.
4 min readBy tradeHow much to charge as a mobile notary
A mobile notary business has an unusual shape: half your invoice is capped by statute and audited, and the other half is entirely yours to set. Knowing which half is which is most of running the business.
5 min readBy tradeHow much to charge as a nail technician
Nail pricing has the widest geographic spread of any beauty service in the UK, where the same gel manicure is half the price in one city that it is in another. Your menu has to be built for your own market, not copied from Instagram.
4 min readBy tradeHow much to charge for bond cleaning
Bond cleaning is not domestic cleaning with a different name. You are underwriting a tenant's deposit against a property manager's inspection, and the free re-clean you promise is the real cost of the job.
5 min readBy tradeHow much to charge for dog training
Dog training prices split sharply by format rather than by skill, so the first decision is not what you are worth per hour but which of three quite different businesses you are running.
5 min readBy tradeHow much to charge for dog walking in the US
US dog walking rates swing by a factor of three between a major metro and a small town, and the walker in the small town is not worse at the job. Pricing here starts with admitting which market you are in.
5 min readBy tradeHow much to charge for drone photography
Drone pricing is unusual because your qualification, not your portfolio, decides which jobs you are legally allowed to quote for. The certificate is a commercial asset before it is a compliance obligation.
5 min readBy tradeHow much to charge for junk removal
Junk removal is priced by the space something occupies in your truck, which makes quoting fast and makes disposal costs the thing that quietly decides your margin.
5 min readBy tradeHow much to charge for lawn care and mowing
The counterintuitive fact that decides whether a lawn route is profitable: the customer who wants you every other week should pay more per visit than the one who wants you weekly, not less.
5 min readBy tradeHow much to charge for mobile car valeting
Valeting and detailing are sold to the same customer in the same driveway and are completely different businesses. Knowing which one you are in is the whole of pricing.
4 min readBy tradeHow much to charge for piano tuning
Piano tuning has one pricing problem that decides everything else: a piano that has not been tuned in a decade is a different job, and you usually cannot tell until you are standing in front of it.
4 min readBy tradeHow much to charge for pool cleaning
Pool cleaning is one of the few outdoor trades with genuinely recurring revenue built into the work, because a pool does not stop needing attention. Pricing it as a series of one-off cleans throws that away.
5 min readBy tradeHow much to charge for pool safety inspections
Pool safety certification is compelled demand with a statutory deadline attached, which makes the work reliable. What decides whether it is profitable is how you handle the pools that fail.
5 min readBy tradeHow much to charge for pressure washing
Pressure washing is one of the few trades priced by area rather than by time, and that is a gift: you can quote accurately from a satellite image without ever visiting the property.
5 min readBy tradeHow much to charge for snow removal
Snow removal is the only trade in this set where your pricing model is a wager. A seasonal contract transfers weather risk from the customer to you, and whether that was clever depends on something neither of you controls.
5 min readBy tradeHow much to charge for sound therapy and sound baths
Sound therapy has the widest earnings spread per hour of any wellness service in the UK, and it has almost nothing to do with how good you are. It is decided entirely by how many people are lying on the floor.
4 min readBy tradeHow much to charge for sports massage
Sports massage is sold to a different buyer than relaxation massage, on a different logic. The client is fixing a problem, usually over several sessions, and that changes both the price and how you package it.
5 min readBy tradeHow to get leads without paying a directory
Paid directories give you enquiries this month and nothing in three years. Here's how to build lead flow you own, in the order that produces results soonest.
5 min readBy tradeIs Angi worth it for contractors?
An honest look at Angi (formerly Angie's List and HomeAdvisor) for contractors: the two-part cost, how shared leads work, the contract terms, and the break-even maths.
6 min readBy tradeIs Bark.com worth it?
An honest look at Bark.com for tradespeople and service businesses: how the credit system works, what it costs per lead, and the break-even maths.
5 min readBy tradeIs Checkatrade worth it for tradespeople?
An honest look at Checkatrade for tradespeople: the real cost structure, what you get for it, when it works, and the arithmetic to run before you sign a twelve-month contract.
5 min readBy tradeIs ClassPass worth it for studios?
Most studios negotiate a ClassPass rate without realising what it is anchored to. The payout formula starts from your lowest-priced package, which means your own discounting sets the ceiling on what ClassPass will pay you.
5 min readBy tradeIs Fresha worth it for salons?
Fresha's pitch is that the software costs nothing. That is true, and it is also not the number that decides whether Fresha is worth it — the marketplace commission and the card fees are.
5 min readBy tradeIs Houzz Pro worth it?
Houzz Pro is two products sold as one — business software and marketplace exposure. Judging it means judging both separately, because most of the disappointment comes from one of them.
5 min readBy tradeIs MyBuilder worth it for tradespeople?
MyBuilder's fee is unusual: it scales with the size of the job instead of sitting at a flat rate. That makes the cost of losing a big job much higher than most tradespeople expect.
5 min readBy tradeIs Rated People worth it for tradespeople?
Rated People is the only major UK trade platform that charges you twice: a subscription you commit to for a year upfront, and credits on top for each job you chase.
5 min readBy tradeIs Rover worth it for dog walkers and sitters?
Rover's commission works the opposite way round to a salon marketplace: it is charged on every booking forever, not once on a new client. That single difference decides whether it suits your business.
5 min readBy tradeIs Superprof worth it for tutors?
Superprof inverts the usual marketplace deal: it costs the tutor nothing and charges the student for the privilege of making contact. That changes the question from what it costs to what it does to your enquiries.
4 min readBy tradeIs TaskRabbit worth it for taskers?
TaskRabbit is unusual among gig platforms in that its fee lands on the client rather than on you. That sounds like the best possible deal until you look at what actually erodes a tasker's hourly rate, which is not commission.
5 min readBy tradeIs Thumbtack worth it for pros?
An honest look at Thumbtack for service pros: how the pay-per-lead model works, what leads really cost once you account for sharing, and when the numbers stand up.
5 min readBy tradeIs Treatwell worth it for salons?
Treatwell's commission is quoted as 35%, but VAT and payment fees push what actually leaves your till closer to 45% on a first visit. Whether that is worth paying comes down to one number you already have.
5 min readBy tradeIs TrustATrader worth it for tradespeople?
TrustATrader sells a membership rather than leads, and limits how many tradespeople it lists in each category and area. That cap is the actual product, and it is what the price should be judged against.
4 min readBy tradeIs Trustpilot worth it for small businesses?
Trustpilot's free plan deliberately withholds the single feature that grows a review profile. Everything about the decision follows from that one gap.
4 min readBy tradeIs Tutorful worth it for tutors?
Tutorful's commission is straightforward, which makes the decision unusually easy to model: work out what you keep, then work out what you would have to charge a private client to end up in the same place.
4 min readBy tradeIs Yell worth it for small businesses?
Yell sells neither leads nor commission. It sells a subscription with a contract attached, and that changes what going wrong looks like. The free listing and the paid products are almost different companies.
5 min readBy tradeMyBuilder vs Rated People: which is better for tradespeople?
The two UK platforms work in genuinely different ways, and the difference matters more than the headline prices. Here's how each charges, who each suits, and the maths to run.
6 min readBy tradePart P and electrician qualifications explained
Part P is widely misunderstood — including by electricians. Here's what's genuinely notifiable in England, how that differs from Wales, and what scheme registration gets you.
6 min readBy tradePutting the Gas Safe Register logo on your website
The Gas Safe logo is the most valuable trust signal a gas engineer has, and the only one that carries a fine if you get it wrong. The line between the two is narrower than most people assume.
4 min readBy tradeSalon cancellation policy: wording that works
No-shows are the biggest silent cost in beauty. Here's a cancellation policy structure that reduces them without making you sound hostile.
4 min readBy tradeTutoring rates per hour: what tutors charge in 2026
A complete breakdown of UK tutoring rates in 2026: what tutors charge per hour by education level, by subject, by region, and online versus in-person — plus group session pricing, what agencies take, and how to set and raise your own rate.
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