Gazza, at the end of the day it is what YOUR aims are, and not what anyone else does or have. If you want to employ someone then do so, but if you want to just build yourself a nice income then just do that....there are no set rules to having your own business. Surely that is the whole idea of having your own business, you please yourself what you want to do with it!
We subby out and we employ, you get similar results with both ways. You make extra money to what you would have if it were just you, but there are many far deeper issues than just money. Insurances PL & EL, if you have not employed before you will be shocked at the cost of these. Extra National Insurance that you have to by law pay for your employees for example every £20 they pay you pay approx another £24 in addition. Holiday pay, at the moment 20 days per year paid holiday. From 2007 that is likely to go up over the next few years to 28 days!! All this extra has to come out of the gross figure that they bring into your business.Subbying, you can only provide them with so much work, as too much classes them as being employed by you. They also have to prove separate income to the IR away from what you pay them. These are a few downsides, there are more, and it may sound really negative, BUT you have to take all of this and more into consideration