There aren't any legal requirements to become a self employed carer, however holding a valid DBS certificate is beneficial as it would reassure your clients and the local authorities or anyone using your services.

A DBS is a certificate from the Disclosure and Barring Service that checks that you aren't a criminal or had such offences that would put any clients at risk. A DBS costs around £60 depending on what provider you use. On receipt of your DBS Certificate, we advise that you log this on the update service (https://www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service). This service costs £13 per year, and will continuously be checked so then you don't have to keep renewing at £60 each time. £13 per year saves you a lot of money, time and effort.

Do I need insurance? Yes, we would advise you to have insurance to protect yourself and your clients. It offers reassurance for you and anyone using your services should something go wrong.

For example, if you're looking after a client, administering medication or your client has a fall whilst you're with them, public liability insurance will cover you should you be sued allowing you to continue working. Without this, you would have to find the costs to cover payouts and legal fees. So, for as little as £80 a year, again depending on the insurer. We can recommend Fish and Blue Badge.

Training is required. On your insurance it will state that you are covered to give medication, however, it will also say something along the lines of "if you have had the appropriate training to do so".

Safeguarding and Manual Handling training are highly recommended so you know what you need to do should a safeguarding issue arise or should you be assisting a client from their bed manually or using any equipment, that you are competent and carrying out these practices in a safe way which will help your client feel reassured.

The Local Authorities have their own policies that they will require you to work in line with should you work with a client who pays you via direct payment, so having the appropriate training will put you in a good position as you will be able to work in line with their policy.

This doesn't need to be done immediately, but you should register by the deadline. Legally you need to register by 5th October after the tax year in which you became self-employed.

When registering HMRC will issue a UTR (Unique Tax Reference) code which is what you will need to be able to do your tax return by the stated deadline. It is your responsibility to ensure you do this and keep all necessary records of invoices, expenses and other transactions. A bookkeeper and/or accountant can support you with this should you find this too overwhelming. https://www.gov.uk/register-for-self-assessment/self-employed

To start with, research your local market area and see what others are charging, get in touch with the Local Authorities and ask them what the direct payment rate is. Some Local Authorities have different rates for direct payments.

Be sensible with deciding your rate bearing in mind what services you are offering and what is fair.

Get yourself out there, get yourself known, build yourself a good reputation, talk to Social Workers, Local Authorities, your neighbourhood, people in your area who are already receiving care, people who are looking for care, friends, family.

The more people you talk to the more you will become known and find clients. When you're a good carer, it's word of mouth and you'll get recognised for that and people will come to you.

When putting yourself out there, be the expert in your field, be professional, create a professional email address - for example: yourname@emailprovider.co.uk

You can create an online profile on social media, or your own website – if you are not sure where to start with something like this, outsource it, there are people who can help you with this.

Personal branding is also deciding colours you like to use and font and being consistent in using these to keep a professional look that people begin to recognise.

Be honest, open, authentic, be who you are and why people should use your services.

Starting your own business is not easy, it takes time to build up, you will need a network of support from family, friends, others in business, but also someone who has been on the journey you are starting.

How do you find a mentor? You may already know someone, but if not get yourself in a Facebook group and engage, ask lots of questions, from what has worked to what hasn't, people are happy to help and share their experiences.

This is hugely important. It can be easy to fall into a trap of working all the time, whether that be with clients or on your business, but you must schedule time for yourself to relax and do what you enjoy.

Book yourself a holiday as working 52 weeks a year will take its toll - but make sure you book your holidays in advance so you can let you client's know to give them time to make alternative arrangements! No one can work 7 days a week 24 hours a day, you can't care for others if you're not looking after yourself properly.

If you're not going to enjoy it, there's no point in doing it. Having passion in the work you do will shine through in the care you provide and this will be recognised by the people you talk to and work with and will go a long way in your business succeeding.

Not doing it for the right reasons will eventually make you unhappy, you may lose interest, not want to get out of bed because you don't want to do it anymore and this will reflect in the care you provide.

Before you start your business journey, write your values down on a piece of paper, after a few months, go back to that piece of paper and see if you're still working to those values and doing the work for the right reasons.