Should i register as a sole trader??

Hi All,

I am looking for some advice on whether i should register as a sole trader or not??

I am currently working full time and paying PAYE tax for the last nember of years,

I have some good ideas to design some electronic devices and am thinking about setting up as a sole trader aswell as my job in order to develop these ideas,

The main benefit i see to setting up as a sole trader are tax reasons, I have a good bit of reasonably expensive equipment to buy (10k or so) in order to get things moving and a year or two R&D before i would get any kind of reasonable sales into the company,

I am wondering if i register as a sole trader and purchase the equipment, the company gets very little or no sales so i am at a loss, Can i write the loss of against PAYE tax i am paying and get a refund on tax??

If the above is ok would this be ok for say two years of R&D work to develop my product before i can introduce it fully into the market??

What possible problems could i run into or what are the downsides to my plan??

If i was made redundant from my full time job would i still be entitled to job seekers allownace??

I know people will tell me i need to talk to an accountant and i understand that but just want to get an idea from people first is the idea even worth pursuing??

Any advice much appreciated,

Thanks,