You’re ready to start your new business, but have you considered how the decisions you make now will affect its growth? One of the earliest is company structure: we look at the pros, cons, ongoing filing and tax associated with the four main start-up structures, to help you decide which is right for you.

Unless it’s part of the business plan to raise significant funds on the stock exchange within a defined period, you probably won’t want to start off as a public limited company (PLC), so it’s a four-way crossroad: become a sole trader, form a partnership, or incorporate a limited liability company or partnership (LLP) at Companies House.

There are other models, including Community Interest Companies and co-operatives, offshore companies and franchises, but here we will focus on the most commonly chosen routes. Having looked at all the options, it’s a good principle to start out with the simplest structure your business plan will allow. You can easily change to a more sophisticated model as the business scales up.