Practical business setup for UK service businesses.
Talk through your setup

Sorted to start.

You have decided to start. Now get the business ready.

StartSorted joins up the practical parts of a service business — offer, pricing, booking, payment, customer messages and launch — so it is ready to take customers from Day 1.

Already trading, but it feels messy? You don't need to start again. We keep what's working and sort the gaps between an enquiry and repeat custom.

Talk through your setup See what we sort

The honest bit

You can be excellent at the work and still not have the business around it sorted.

Being good at the service isn't the same as being ready to trade. If any of these sound familiar, the problem usually isn't you — it's the setup between one step and the next.

Enquiries come in, but too many quietly leak away before they become a booking.

Prices feel like guesswork, and taking a deposit or payment upfront is awkward.

You have a logo and an Instagram page, but you're not sure you have a business.

Repeat business happens by accident, not because anything is set up to bring people back.

You know the work, but not what needs setting up first — or in what order.

You're worried about spending money on the wrong things before the basics are right.

Not trading yet — still weighing up whether self-employment is right for you? Start by pressure-testing the idea, the numbers and the route before you commit. StartSorted is for when that decision is made and the business needs building.
Start with a My Self-Employment Plan

What we sort

Six parts, joined up in the right order.

Not a menu of separate design and admin tasks. StartSorted works on the parts of a service business that only make sense together — each one shaped by the decisions before it.

01Offer

What you sell, who it's for and why it's worth the price.

02Pricing

Numbers that support your time, costs and income target.

03Enquiry

One obvious route for a prospect to take the next step.

04Booking & payment

Deposits, confirmations and rescheduling that work cleanly.

05Customer journey

The right messages before, during and after delivery.

06Launch

At least one practical route to your first customers.

Below, the Day 1 Ready standard sets out what "ready" actually means across each of these — the deeper framework behind the overview.

Explore what we sort

The Day 1 Ready Standard

"Ready" is a standard, not a feeling.

A logo and a busy diary aren't proof a business is built. Eight areas separate a few assets from a working setup — offer, pricing, enquiry, booking & payment, customer journey, delivery, route to market and tracking — each supporting the next.

A quick self-check: if three or more of these are unclear right now, the setup probably needs joining up before you launch — or before you spend more chasing customers.

See the full standard, with examples

Ways to work together

One result, three levels of help.

Whichever route fits, the outcome is the same: a clearer, more workable business setup. We're honest about what's done for you and what's done with you — and the right starting point becomes obvious on a short call.

Committed · fundamentals unclear

Sort My Start

Best for owners whose fundamentals are unclear or disconnected and who need the commercial decisions made first.

What changes: a commercially coherent starting setup you can act on.

  • Offer and pricing decisions
  • Booking and payment approach
  • Essential policies
  • A basic, joined-up customer journey
  • An ordered action plan
Start with a setup call
Committed · needs it builtComplete setup

StartSorted Setup

Best for owners who know roughly what's needed but can't assemble it all well on their own.

What changes: the working setup is built, connected and tested.

  • Brand essentials
  • Customer-facing pages
  • Enquiry, booking and payment flow
  • Messages and documents
  • Credibility foundations and handover
Start with a setup call
Setup exists · needs a launch

Launch & Grow

Best for owners whose setup exists but who need a controlled route into the market.

What changes: a practical launch with a first repeatable route to customers.

  • Launch plan
  • 30-day launch content sprint
  • Google profile, reviews and referrals
  • Launch monitoring
  • Early iteration
Start with a setup call

Projects are scoped after a short setup call. You'll receive a fixed proposal covering scope, responsibilities, timing and price before deciding.

Talk through your setup Compare the ways to work together

How it works

A clear process, in the right order.

Decisions are made before assets are produced, and dependencies stay visible — so you're never paying to build something that an earlier decision would have changed.

1

Tell us where you are

A short fit form comes first. You'll see appointment availability once we know your stage.

2

Talk through the setup

A focused 15–20 minute call to find the stage, the main bottleneck and the likely route.

3

Receive a fixed proposal

Scope, responsibilities, timings, price and payment schedule — all explicit, nothing vague.

4

Build in the right order

Decisions before design. The pieces are built so each one supports the next.

5

Test the full journey

A dummy enquiry, booking, payment, confirmation and follow-up — run end to end to expose gaps.

6

Launch or hand over

You receive access, instructions and a clear list of next actions. No mystery, no lock-in.

See the full process

Examples

Different businesses. The gap was in the setup.

Three anonymised setups showing how clearer decisions and joined-up systems changed the way each business was ready to operate.

The Personal Trainer
Starting point
Selling individual sessions with strong results in the room.
What changed
A six-session starter offer, payment upfront, screening questions, fixed use rules, and renewal raised before the final session.
At handover
A defined sign-up and renewal journey, with payment before the first session and the continuation conversation built into the block.
The Mobile Dog Groomer
Starting point
Taking bookings through messages back and forth, without one consistent process.
What changed
A clear service menu, a travel boundary, a £10 booking fee, a rescheduling rule, a consent note and tidy booking messages.
At handover
A booking process with clear commitment, travel and first-appointment rules, ready to use consistently with every customer.
The Beauty Business
Starting point
Preparing to launch properly, with the customer-facing setup still to assemble.
What changed
A menu with average-value logic, booking and payment set up, policies written, and a launch-readiness checklist worked through.
At handover
A tested route from service selection through booking and payment to the first appointment.

Based on real client setups. Names and identifying details have been changed for privacy.

Discuss a similar setup See all examples

About Nathan & StartSorted

Built around real-world commercial experience.

Every StartSorted project is led by Nathan, the founder. His background is in sales and commercial management, with hands-on experience helping early-stage service businesses turn rough ideas into clearer offers, realistic pricing and workable ways of attracting and serving customers.

StartSorted came from a pattern he kept seeing: good operators losing momentum because the setup around their work was unclear. He's watched businesses stay active and ideas quietly fail — and understands the practical difference between them.

My approach is practical rather than motivational. I look at the numbers, the market, the setup required and the gaps that could make an idea harder to sustain than it first appears. You will not simply be told to go for it — you'll get an honest view of what looks viable, what needs changing and what your next move should be.

— Nathan, Founder

Read more about Nathan

Honest fit

Is StartSorted right for you?

We'd rather tell you now than sell you the wrong thing. Here's who this tends to suit — and who it doesn't.

A good fit if…

  • You have a clear service or skill already identified.
  • Your business is local, appointment-led or service-based.
  • You'll make decisions and complete the agreed actions.
  • You want a viable, credible start — not rapid scale or passive income.
  • You value joined-up implementation over isolated design deliverables.

Probably not, if…

  • You only want a logo, a website or social posts as standalone items.
  • You're after guaranteed leads, instant income or a get-rich-quick formula.
  • You're an established firm whose main need is team growth or investment.
  • You have no defined business idea yet — that decision needs testing before any build.

Questions

Before you get in touch

What kinds of businesses do you work with?
UK owner-operators running appointment-led or local service businesses — beauty and treatment, fitness and coaching, grooming, cleaning, valeting, trades and similar practical specialisms. The common thread is a real service and a willingness to build the business around it.
Can you just build me a logo or website?
That's not what StartSorted sells as a standalone. A logo or website on its own rarely fixes why a business isn't converting. We build the joined-up setup — offer, pricing, booking, payment, journey and launch — and the design serves that. If a single asset is genuinely all you need, we'll tell you honestly.
How much does a StartSorted project cost?
Every project is scoped after a short setup call, and you receive a fixed proposal — scope, responsibilities, timings and price — before you decide anything. That keeps the price matched to the work you actually need, rather than a headline figure that doesn't fit your situation.
Is the work done for me or with me?
Both, depending on the piece — and we're explicit about which is which. Some parts are done for you; others are decisions only you can make, so those are done with you. Your proposal states clearly where each responsibility sits.
Do you guarantee customers?
No, and we're wary of anyone who does. What we can do is make sure that when interest arrives, the setup doesn't leak it — a clear offer, an obvious next step, and a journey that's been tested end to end.
What's the difference between StartSorted and My Self-Employment Plan?
My Self-Employment Plan (Go Self-Employed) is the paid decision product — it pressure-tests whether the idea, numbers and route make sense before you commit. StartSorted is the implementation company for after that decision: turning the plan into a working, customer-ready setup. Deciding first, building second.

Industries

Built for local, appointment-led service businesses.

The idea is the same everywhere, but the commercial decisions differ by trade. See the common gaps and the calls that matter for your line of work.

Beauty & Treatment Fitness & Coaching Local & Mobile Services Skilled Trades

Talk through your setup

Tell us where your setup stands.

A few short questions first, so the call starts on the real gaps — not basic discovery. If you're a good fit, you'll see availability to book straight away.

No obligation. The call is 15–20 minutes to work out the route — not a hard sell.
A straight answer. If the setup isn't ready to build yet, we'll tell you plainly.
Only what's needed. A fixed proposal comes after the call, before you decide anything.
Please add your name.
Please add a valid email.
Please add a contact number.
Please tell me the service.
Please choose your stage.
What's already in place?
Please choose a preferred level.

You look like a strong fit — let's book the call.

Thanks — your answers are exactly what a StartSorted setup is built for. The next step is a focused 15–20 minute call to pin down the main bottleneck and the likely route. Pick a time that suits you.

Choose a time to talk
While you're here: a personal trainer came to us selling one-off sessions with no clear path to continuation. We built a six-session starter offer, payment before the first session and a renewal conversation set into the block — a defined sign-up and renewal journey in place of ad-hoc bookings.

Start by testing the decision first.

Because you're still deciding whether to work for yourself, the most useful next step isn't a build — it's pressure-testing the idea, the numbers and the route. That's exactly what Go Self-Employed's My Self-Employment Plan is for. Come back to StartSorted once the decision's made and it's time to build.

Go to Go Self-Employed

A quick note on scope before we talk.

It looks like you might be after a single item — a logo, a page or similar. StartSorted works by joining the whole setup together rather than selling those parts on their own, because an asset in isolation rarely fixes why a business isn't converting. If a joined-up setup is what you want, book the call and we'll show you how the pieces connect. If you genuinely only need one asset, we'll point you to a better fit honestly.

Book the setup call

Thanks — we'll review your enquiry and reply.

Your enquiry's in. Because the best route isn't obvious from your answers yet, we'll look at what you've sent and reply with the most useful next step — rather than dropping you straight onto a calendar. Keep an eye on your inbox.

Being good at the work is not the same as being ready to trade.

If the setup around your service is holding you back, let's find the gaps you haven't thought about — and get the whole thing working.

Talk through your setup