How I Use Google Workspace as a Self-Employed Person

I want to be upfront about two things before this review starts.

First: I’m a genuine Google Workspace user. I use it every day in my own business — not as a test account, not because I was asked to review it, but because it’s the tool I chose and I haven’t felt the need to switch.

Second: The Self Employed Club has a referral arrangement with Google Workspace. If you sign up through the Club you get 10% off your first year and a 14-day free trial. I earn a small commission. That came after the decision to use it, not before.

With that said — here’s my honest experience.

What Is Google Workspace?

Google Workspace is the business version of the Google tools you probably already use — Gmail, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Calendar, Meet. The difference is that everything runs under your own domain name rather than a @gmail.com address, you get more storage, and there are admin controls that matter as your business grows.

For most sole traders, the relevant version is Business Starter at £5.90/user/month (ex VAT, on an annual commitment). That’s the plan I use. It’s the one I’d recommend to most self-employed people starting out.

Why I Switched — And What I Left Behind

Before Google Workspace I had a mismatched setup: a free Gmail account for email, Dropbox for file storage, and a calendar I was barely using properly. It worked, in the way that a collection of free tools bolted together works. But it looked unprofessional and felt disconnected.

The switch happened because I was setting up a new domain for the Club and I decided to stop deferring the professional email question. If I was going to tell sole traders to look the part, I needed to actually look the part myself.

I haven’t missed Dropbox once. I haven’t thought about going back to the @gmail.com address. And the calendar — which I barely used before — has become one of the most useful tools in my working day.

The Four Things I Actually Use It For

1. The Domain Email — More Important Than It Sounds

My email is now @theselfemployedclub.com. That’s it. That single change does more for how the business is perceived than almost anything else I’ve done.

It sounds minor. It isn’t. When you’re self-employed, every signal matters — and a @gmail.com address signals side hustle. A branded domain email signals business. Clients notice. Suppliers notice. Anyone who receives an invoice from you notices.

The email itself is just Gmail — the same interface, the same search, the same everything. It took about twenty minutes to set up once I had the domain (and I’m not a technical person).

2. The Calendar — My Favourite Part

I said it to someone recently and I’ll say it here: the Google Workspace calendar is genuinely my favourite part of the whole setup. And not for complicated reasons.

I have one calendar that runs my week. Every meeting I accept adds a Google Meet link automatically. My tasks from ClickUp appear alongside my meetings. I can see the whole week in one view without switching between apps.

The part that changed how I work: I set up a separate booking calendar that I share with people who need to schedule calls with me. They see my available slots, they book directly, it lands in my calendar automatically. No back and forth over email. No “does Thursday at 3 work for you?” No “actually can we make it Friday.” It just works.

I’d tried Calendly for this and it was fine — but having it built into the same calendar I use for everything else means one less tool, one less login, one less thing to maintain.

3. The Storage — I Moved Over From Dropbox

I was a Dropbox user for years. When I switched to Google Workspace I moved everything across to Google Drive — not all at once, gradually — and I genuinely haven’t missed Dropbox.

The storage works differently: files created in Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides don’t count toward your storage limit. Only files you upload (PDFs, images, that kind of thing) count. For the way I work, that means I effectively have far more storage than the headline number suggests.

The other thing I use constantly: sharing a specific folder with a client or a contractor without giving them access to anything else. Works exactly as you’d expect. No faff.

4. The ClickUp Integration — Genuinely Seamless

I use ClickUp for project management. The integration between ClickUp Spaces and Google Drive means I can attach Google Docs to tasks, open them from within ClickUp, and edit them without switching apps.

For someone who lives in ClickUp for the work and Google for the files, this matters more than I expected. Everything feels connected rather than fragmented. If you use ClickUp too, this alone is worth paying attention to.

The Pricing — Is It Worth It?

Business Starter is £5.90/user/month on an annual commitment (ex VAT). As a sole trader, you’re one user. That’s £70.80 a year, or £85 including VAT.

For that you get:

• Professional domain email (Gmail interface)
• 30GB pooled storage across Drive, Gmail, and Photos
• Google Calendar, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, Keep
• Google Meet (up to 100 participants, no time limit)
• Gemini AI included across the apps

For context: Dropbox Plus costs £119.99/year. I was paying for both. Now I pay for one.

The 10% discount through The Self Employed Club brings Business Starter to £5.31/user/month — and the 14-day free trial means you can try it properly before committing.

Club deal: Members of The Self Employed Club get 10% off Google Workspace for the first year plus a 14-day free trial. Get the deal →

Who Is Google Workspace Actually For?

It’s worth being honest about who this suits and who it doesn’t.

It’s worth it if:

• You’re using a @gmail.com address for business and you know you should change that
• You already use Google tools personally and want the business versions
• You take client calls regularly and want a slick calendar booking setup
• You use ClickUp, Notion, or other tools that integrate with Google Drive
• You’re currently paying for Dropbox or similar cloud storage

It might not be worth it yet if:

• You’re in the very early stages and client-facing credibility isn’t yet a priority
• You’re already in a Microsoft 365 setup and switching would cost more time than it saves
• Your client base doesn’t care about email addresses (some industries genuinely don’t)

Most sole traders who ask me about it are already at the point where the @gmail.com address is embarrassing them. If that’s you — this is the answer.

Google Workspace vs Microsoft 365 — The Short Version

I’m not going to write an exhaustive comparison because plenty of those exist. The short version for sole traders:

Google Workspace wins on: simplicity, calendar, collaboration, integration with other tools, and the fact that you probably already know how Gmail works.

Microsoft 365 wins on: Excel (genuinely more powerful than Google Sheets for complex work), Word (better for long-form documents with complex formatting), and offline capability if you regularly work without internet.

For most sole traders — especially those who aren’t doing complex financial modelling or producing heavily formatted documents — Google Workspace is the easier, more connected choice. For anyone who lives in Excel, Microsoft 365 is probably the right call.

Getting Set Up — What to Know Before You Start

A few things that would have saved me time when I set it up:

You need a domain first. Google Workspace doesn’t give you a domain — it connects to one you already own. The Club has a deal with 123 Reg for domain registration. Get the domain, then come back and set up Workspace.

The setup takes about 20 minutes. You verify that you own the domain (Google walks you through this), update a few DNS records, and you’re live. It sounds technical. It isn’t. Google’s step-by-step is genuinely clear and I found the help I needed in my hosts support guides.

Set up the booking calendar early. Go to Google Calendar, create a separate calendar for bookings, and share the link with people who need to schedule time with you. This takes about ten minutes and saves hours over the course of a year.

Move files gradually. Don’t try to migrate everything from your old storage on day one. Move things as you need them. After a few months everything will naturally have migrated without any deliberate effort.

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