Currently...

I am currently running and loving http://www.missjonespa.com/" rel="nofollow">Miss Jones. It is one of the best things I have ever done with my life!

It is full throttle from the moment that I get up until I go to bed, which can sometimes be the wee small hours of the morning. On a day-to-day basis I will have lots of different heads on from a book keeper to a sales person. I spend about three days a week on sales calls with potential advertising partners and the rest of the time I will be based in my home office updating the website, working on administration and thinking up lots of other fun ideas for PAs. 

My board members and I have weekly meetings to catch up and they always see things with the business that I do not see. Their advice is invaluable to me. They really help me and listen to my ups and downs. Together we are making the business work.

Before I escaped...

My career from the age of 19 has been everything from Sales Assistant, receptionist and PA. I did not go to university but I have worked hard in every job I have been in and luckily been in the right place at the right time when great jobs have come up.

I was PA to the MD of Metro Newspaper for 4 years and it was a great job. As much as I loved it, I did have itchy feet to do something different. I was approaching my mid thirties and I thought that if I do not do something different now, I never will. I also felt that I never wanted to regret anything in my life.

My moment of truth...

I have always felt that I could run my own business from when I was about 25. It was always in the back of my mind but I had to come up with a great idea.

In 2006 I was given the opportunity to go on a trek to Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. There were a lot of people who thought I was mad (including myself) as the most I had done walking-wise was up and down the Kings Road on a Saturday. 

On the 23rd of July 2006 at 05:10am in the morning I summited Kilimanjaro and it changed my life forever. I realised then there that if I could do this climb I could do anything. I came back from the trip feeling slightly unsettled and I knew that I needed to change the direction that my life was going in. I knew when I got back that I had to change my life and find that idea!!

Planning for it...

I left Metro in December 2007 and started planning Miss Jones in the October of 2007. When I left my job I did take a couple of months off but had started designing the website etc. I was very lucky that we launched very quickly. It took 9 months from when I left Metro until we launched http://www.missjonespa.com/" rel="nofollow">Miss Jones. Fortnum and Mason took the plunge with Miss Jones and were the first advertisers with the website.

Funding was not so easy. I had to ask for some help from my family as my bank turned me down for any funding as they described my business as too speculative. I also had some money but not enough to last me a whole year. It was imperative that I sold Miss Jones well.

The worst and best bits...

I would say that you have to have some form of funding behind you before you start your business. Make sure you have enough to keep you in business for at least a year and also to cover your start up costs. Living on beans and toast gets a bit boring after a while!! This was where I fell down.  

Talk to people who have set up their own business and ask them what the pitfalls were financially. Always make sure you have money in your account for the rainy day or for the months that are really quiet.

Be positive and you will succeed. I learnt that the only person to really sell your business is you. You are the only person that is going to live and breathe it. I have had some incredible meetings with very influential people because I am passionate about my business and I am the one that knows it inside out. I have also learned not to ask too many people for advice as you end up getting really confused!! I have a mentor and my board, and these wonderful people help me come to my decisions. 

I am still here after launching just before the worst recession we have ever seen so I am pretty proud of http://www.missjonespa.com/" rel="nofollow">Miss Jones.

Best advice...

The best advice I got was 'build the foundations of the business then add everything else on top'. This is so true. Do not rush at trying to make your business the best newcomer. There are a lot of people out there who are setting up and you have to make your business stand out from the madding crowd. 

I have taken time in building my business and I have made sure my foundations are solid and I am slowly building the rest of the business with the right people involved.

The one thing I wish I had known was that you will have some heartbreak along the way. You learn to not listen to everyone and keep your social life. You need support and time out. Life really chucks you some huge curve balls, sometimes in a really good way but also in a bad way. 

Remember one thing if you are running a sales business: never ever say a deal is done until the paperwork is signed and the money is in the bank!!! That was a huge learning curve for me.

Useful resources and information...

Recently I have been reading the http://www.amazon.co.uk/Success-Principles-How-where-want/dp/0007195087/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1308235208&sr=8-1" rel="nofollow">Success Principles by Jack Cranfield. My Board Director told me to get it and it is amazing. You have to read it a couple of times but it stays with you.

Richard Branson's three books: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Losing-Virginity-Autobiography-Richard-Branson/dp/0753519550/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1308235238&sr=8-1" rel="nofollow">Losing my Virginity,  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Screw-Lets-Do-Lessons-Business/dp/0753511495/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1308235260&sr=8-1" rel="nofollow">Screw it, Let's do it, and http://www.amazon.co.uk/Business-Stripped-Bare-Adventures-Entrepreneur/dp/0753515032/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1308235288&sr=1-1" rel="nofollow">Business Stripped Bare. These were invaluable to me. Before I read these books I was not 100% keen on Mr Branson. When I read these books my mind set changed and I have incorporated some of the things he mentioned into my business.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Starting-Business-Dummies-Colin-Barrow/dp/0470978104" rel="nofollow">Dummies Guide to Starting a Small Business

The websites I have used are:

• http://www.entrepreneur.com/" rel="nofollow">Entrepreneur.com
• http://www.fsb.org.uk/" rel="nofollow">The Federation of Small Businesses