How to start a ‘man with a van’ business in 2023

If you’re good with your hands and have a wide variety of skills that you could trade for money, then you should strongly consider starting a man with a van business either as a full-time business or a side gig. You could be making a lot of money performing small jobs around your area and doing something that you love if that’s what you’re into.

You do have to know that this type of business comes with a few risks that you may not be aware of, however. You also have to learn how to run a business if you want to stay on top of your margins and costs. Let’s take a look at how you could start a successful man with a van business in 2023.

Learn about the requirements

Even if you won’t be a specialised contractor, there are still rules and regulations you’ll need to abide by, and you have to know what these are before you start. While there are no licence requirements for this type of business, you might need to get a specialised licence depending on the kind of services you’re going to offer.

If you intend to do things like furniture collecting, for instance, or small house moves, then you may want to join the British Association of Removers and get a domestic mover’s licence. You will also need to get a category B licence or greater to drive the van.

In addition to that, you will need to start looking at insurance. You will need to get liability insurance in case someone gets hurt during jobs, and you need to start looking at things like goods in transit insurance as well. Goods in transit insurance will protect items you may be transporting in case they get damaged, but it will also cover you in case someone steals something from your vehicle, so start looking into it today and make sure that you get all the coverage that you need.

Choose your structure

Some people may assume that forming a limited liability company is too much for this type of business, but this will protect your personal assets in case someone decides to sue you or if you run into debt. So, this is something to keep in mind, especially when considering how light this business structure is and the level of protection it offers.

Starting as a sole trader will be easier, however, so if you don’t want to go through the process of forming a company and want to start doing small jobs fast, then you can keep this structure now until you move up to more important gigs.

Start marketing your services

Once you have everything set up, you can start actively selling your services. Having a nice-looking website is a good start, and this will allow you to advertise through things like PPC marketing, SEO, and through social media.

Traditional methods like print marketing work well too, and you can also sell your service in local classified ads. Consider branding your vehicle too if you want to create awareness about your service without having to constantly pump money into marketing.

As you can see, starting a man with a van business is pretty simple. Just make sure that you start on a solid foundation, treat this like an actual business, and dedicate yourself to providing your clients with the best service possible if you want to be a success.