Seeking Advice: Registering as a Sole Trader for My Online DJ Presence While on ESA Benefits

PalsyP
PalsyP Online Community Member Posts: 48 Contributor
edited February 3 in Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)

Hi everyone,

I hope you're all doing well! I wanted to share a bit about my current situation and ask for some advice.

I've been growing my online DJ presence, sharing mixes and engaging with a small but steadily growing audience. I'm starting to think about monetising this, potentially through platforms like Patreon, live-streaming tips, or selling merchandise. With that in mind, I’m considering registering as a sole trader to formalise things.

However, there’s an important factor I need to consider: I currently receive ESA (Employment and Support Allowance) - soon to be forced on Universal Credit (boo, hiss). I’m aware that there’s a limit to how much I can earn before it affects my benefit. I’ve read that exceeding the earnings threshold could reduce or even stop my ESA payments. I fully understand and respect that, but it’s something I need to weigh carefully before making any decisions.

What I’m unsure about is whether registering as a sole trader makes sense at this stage, especially if my earnings are unpredictable and start out quite low. On the other hand, if things go really well and I begin earning more, I want to ensure I’m set up properly to handle the financial and legal aspects.

I’d love to hear from anyone with experience balancing self-employment and benefits, or anyone who’s been in a similar situation. Specifically:

  • Is it worth registering as a sole trader now if my income is not consistent yet?
  • How do you manage the transition from benefits to self-employment income without losing financial stability?
  • Are there resources or organisations you’d recommend for guidance on this?

Thanks so much for taking the time to read this. I appreciate any insights or advice you can share.

TIA.

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Comments

  • PalsyP
    PalsyP Online Community Member Posts: 48 Contributor

    Because of the lack of traction, I guess no one else is in my situation.

  • Albus_Scope
    Albus_Scope Posts: 8,695 Scope Online Community Coordinator

    Heya @PalsyP sorry to see your discussion has no replies, unfortunately you had posted during xmas, so many people will have been busy with xmas things and we were working on a skeleton crew.

    It's great to hear your fanbase is growing, I found Twitch really good for livestreaming, but I'm sure you already know that haha. Patreon is often a good route for some additional income if you can make subscribing worthwhile, so early, exclusive sets etc would be good.

    It sounds like you're taking all things into account, so just remember that you'll need to keep records of earnings, so it can often be good practice to have any donations etc go into a specific, separate paypal (or similar) account as this will make tax season a load easier for you.

    Hopefully some other community members will chime in now I've given the discussion a bit of a bump. 😉

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