The First 90 Days as a Sole Trader: Setting Up For Long-Term Success

Starting out as a sole trader typically invites a heady mix of freedom and fear. You’ve chosen to back yourself, build up a business that reflects your skills and ambitions, and to sell that service to your audience. 

But with that freedom, and lack of fallback, comes responsibility – you alone are responsible for your income, your reputation and your future security. The first 90 days of your new enterprise matter more than you may realise, and will see you tackling plenty independently, from finding your first clients to laying the groundwork with them, your suppliers, and other stakeholders for the long game.

Below, we’ll dive into how you can use the first 90 days as a sole trader to best set yourself up for financial and long-term success.

Days 1 to 7: Protecting Yourself Before You Promote Yourself

When you start your own business, you probably want to land some big fish to start off strong. But before you market your services or sign your first client, you need to ensure your business has a safety net. This starts with making sure you’re insured against all your business’ largest identified risks.

Too often, new business owners overlook insurance until something goes wrong, but even one incident can drain savings, damage your reputation or stop your business in its tracks. This is why choosing the right cover options for sole traders is one of the smartest moves you can make in the opening week. It’s about protecting your capital and reputation – both are pillars to smooth sailing into long-term business ownership. 

The type of business insurance cover you need will depend on what you do and offer. Here are the essentials to think about:

Public liability insurance

Public liability (PL) insurance cover is designed to offer financial protection if a client, customer or member of the public suffers injury or property damage linked to your business. PL insurance may also include financial cover for legal fees in the event that a client or other affected party proceeds to litigation.

Professional indemnity insurance 

Professional indemnity insurance is critical if you provide professional advice like consultory services. If a mistake or breach of duty costs your client money, professional indemnity insurance covers legal costs and compensation to help keep litigation from crippling your business.

Income protection

As a sole trader, if you can’t work, you don’t get paid. Income protection ensures a steady stream of funds if you’re sidelined by illness or injury.

Equipment or tool insurance

If your work depends on specialist gear or technology, protecting these essential tools of the trade from theft or damage keeps you in business. 

Cyber insurance

Cyber insurance is increasingly important in a digital-first world. If you manage sensitive data or operate online, this cover helps in the event of hacks or data breaches.

Days 8 to 30: Building the Right Foundations

Once you’ve protected your downside, it’s time to focus on the mechanics of running a sustainable business. However, setting your business up with a strong foundation will see you poring over plenty of paperwork, alongside having conversations with bankers and perhaps even some SaaS salesmen here and there.

Here are some of the key steps you can expect to take when building the right foundations for your sole tradership.

1. Register properly

Get your paperwork in order. Apply for an ABN or business number, register your business name if required and understand your tax obligations. You can check out the ATO’s learning program to help you clarify your requirements. Even if you don’t cross the GST/VAT threshold immediately, know the rules so you’re not caught out later.

2. Separate your finances

Open a dedicated business bank account, plus a separate tax savings account. Separating your business accounts from your personal accounts is one of the most sensible tax strategies that keeps your books clear and makes tax season less painful.

3. Choose your tools wisely

Pick cloud accounting software, a simple invoicing system and a task manager you’ll actually use. Those three, beyond any tools you need specifically for your work, will likely be all you need. Resist the urge to overcomplicate – start with the basics and scale later.

4. Write your one-page offer

Also referred to as a one-page proposal, this simple yet comprehensive document is going to be your north star as a sole trader. On a single page, define who you help, what problem you solve, the outcomes you deliver and how you deliver them. This clarity makes conversations with potential leads easier and feeds directly into your website and proposals.

Days 31 to 60: Prioritising Cash Flow

While all of that setting up and finding suitable coverage is going on, you also need to focus on your work and getting paid. It goes without saying that cash flow is oxygen for any business. For a sole trader business, however, ensuring your cash flow is reliable can mean the difference between thriving and surviving. If any invoices are paid late, it can affect your on-hand capital, which may then inhibit you from being able to jump on any opportunities to invest in your business growth as they come up.

In the first 90 days, your priority is consistent income and establishing cash flow strategies, so hold off on the trendy branding for now. Here are our top tips to generate and maintain cash flow. 

1. Set viable pricing

Work out your minimum day rate or package price by including living costs, tax and realistic billable hours. Anchor your pricing around value delivered, not just time spent.

2. Outreach, outreach, outreach

• Not many of us have the luxury of being at full capacity in the early days of sole trading, so it’s time to reach out to every possible lead before you focus on long-term marketing.
• Start with your own network and previous clients (if allowed).
• Send emails to past connections and ask for referrals.

3. Create a lean sales engine

• A one-page website: problem, solution, proof and call to action.
• A starter portfolio: just 3–5 case studies with clear before-and-after results.
• Daily outreach: message a handful of ideal clients or referrers consistently, not sporadically.

4. Prioritise cash discipline

• Invoice as soon as work is complete.
• Set aside a percentage of every payment into your tax account.
• Hold a weekly ‘money date’ to track invoices, reconcile accounts and forecast the next 12 weeks.

5. Deliver with professionalism

Clients hire you not just for your skills, but for the confidence that you’ll do what you promise. Use an onboarding pack, set clear scopes and send regular updates. Reliability in these early jobs earns referrals faster than any ad spend.

Days 61 to 90: Turning Survival into Momentum

By your third month of operations, you’ve proven that you can deliver. For the next phase of your business development, you’ll need to start thinking about refining and preparing for growth.

The objective here is to start building systems, processes, and a reputation that can help to sustain your sole tradership over the long term. Here are just a few key areas for self-investment that you could focus on during this phase of your business growth.

1. Build repeatable systems

Create templates for proposals, contracts, invoices and client updates. A simple operations rhythm can look like marketing on Mondays, service delivery from Tuesday to Thursday and finance on Fridays.

2. Track what matters

Identify your key metrics for success and start creating systems for tracking them. This can be as simple as using Google Search Console to track your website click-through rates and conversion rates, or even using customer relationship management (CRM) software to track leads, or even bookkeeping software to track your time-to-payment and cash runway – or all of the above.

3. Strengthen your network

Ask satisfied clients for testimonials and referrals. Build relationships with complementary providers (designers with developers, tradies with landscapers) to create a referral loop. Referrals are, after all, the lifeblood of sole traderships. With a strong network, you can make sure your business can always enjoy a healthy influx of organic leads.

4. Hone in on your market positioning

After two months, you’ll see patterns like clients you enjoy working with, services that sell easily, jobs that pay the bulk of your income and projects that deliver great results. Use these insights to niche down and increase your pricing power.

Key Takeaways

The first 90 days of operating your sole tradership won’t define everything, but they will set a rhythm and it’s up to you to define the cadence of that rhythm. Those first three months, while they need an emphasis on survival, are also about planting the habits, systems and protections that will carry you forward into long-term success. Here’s a recap of our simple 90-day roadmap

• Weeks 1–2 – secure insurance, register business, open accounts, draft offer.
• Weeks 3–4 – build a basic website, start outreach, invoice first clients.
• Weeks 5–8 – create templates, track finances weekly, ask for testimonials.
• Weeks 9–12 – build referral partnerships, refine pricing, trial small outsourcing.