Just gone self-employed? The website that starts the diary
Going out on your own is the best and most terrifying decision in the trade. You've got the quals, the tools and probably one loyal customer from your old firm - and an empty diary that needs filling before the van payment lands. Everyone suddenly has advice about branding, and most of it is designed to part a new business from its startup money.
This page is the straight version: what a brand-new plumbing business actually needs online in month one, what can wait until year two, and where the first few hundred quid genuinely moves the needle.
The worst first spend: the logo package
Here's the contrarian bit, and I'll die on this hill: a £300 logo package is the worst first spend a new plumbing business can make. Nobody has ever chosen a plumber because of the logo. Your name in a clean font on the van does the same job, and the £300 belongs in things that ring your phone: a website, a Google Business Profile, and fuel for knocking on the right doors.
Branding matters at year five, when you're putting three vans on the road. At month one, the brand is you turning up when you said you would.
What month one actually needs
The new-business website checklist is short, and none of it is glamorous:
- A site that proves you exist: your name, face, Gas Safe number, areas and services - because your first referrals will check before they call
- A Google Business Profile linked to it - free, and half your early local visibility
- Tap-to-call everything: your first customers arrive one at a time, and each one matters
- The jobs you want stated confidently - even with an empty portfolio, clarity reads as competence
- No blog, no social calendar, no CRM - month one is for work, not content
Starting costs that respect a startup budget
The one-off build at £595 exists precisely for this stage: one payment, you own the site, the domain and the hosting, and there's no monthly fee while the business finds its feet. Upgrade to managed later if the admin starts eating evenings you don't have.
And for an empty diary, Planning Leads is arguably the highest-leverage tool a new plumbing business can use: a weekly email of approved planning applications in your area with letter templates included. A new business with time between jobs can out-hustle established firms on exactly this kind of outreach - you have the one resource they don't.
Three ways to get your site built.
Fixed prices, agreed in writing before any work starts. No VAT added.
One-off build
We build it, you own it. No monthly fee, no strings. Hosting set up in your name.
Get a quote →Managed
We build it, host it, maintain it and make your edits. You never touch a dashboard.
Get a quote →Managed + triage
Everything in Managed, plus an after-hours triage system that sorts urgent enquiries from ones that can wait.
Get a quote →Full details, add-ons and what's included: the plumbing websites service
The only web designer who also finds you the jobs.
Your site is built by the same person who runs Planning Leads - a weekly email digest of approved planning applications in your area, filtered for plumbing work, with a ready-to-personalise letter template for every lead.
Questions plumbers ask us.
What does a new plumbing business need online?+
A simple fast website proving you exist - name, face, Gas Safe number, areas, services, tap-to-call - plus a linked Google Business Profile. That covers the checks your first referrals will make. Everything else can wait.
Should I spend money on a logo when starting out?+
Honestly, no - not real money. Your name in a clean font is enough for year one. Spend the branding budget on things that generate calls: the website, the Business Profile and getting in front of homeowners. Revisit branding when you're scaling, not starting.
How do I get my first plumbing customers?+
Tell everyone you've gone out on your own, make sure the website and Business Profile catch the follow-up searches, and go to the work instead of waiting: planning applications are public, and a letter to a homeowner with a freshly approved extension often reaches them before any competitor exists.
Can I afford a professional website when starting a plumbing business?+
The one-off build is £595 with no monthly fee - you own everything. Compare that with a year of £30-a-month site-rental deals that leave you with nothing, and it's the cheaper option in year one and every year after.
Tell us about your business.
Your trade, your area, the jobs you want more of. You'll have a scope and a fixed price within one working day - no calls unless you want one, no obligation.