Currently...

We run a careers community for future leaders.

Our mission is to introduce bright professionals (leading university, at least two years’ experience at a top tier employer) to career opportunities that excite them. But to do so in a way that we would have appreciated…..

We found cold calls and spam mail from recruitment agents annoying. Especially when working 80 hour weeks. Trawling through 1000s of 'matches' on jobs boards wasn’t much more appealing. So we founded an exclusive site, where hand picked employers advertise their best jobs to our community of future leaders.

We hated that recruitment agents weren’t open about the company they were working for, never mind what the exact job and salary were. So above all, MoveMeOn is transparent. All of our jobs can be viewed and applied for online. Job posts include a company name & logo, detailed job description, salary and ‘must have’ skills / experience.

We also hated them trying to sell us jobs that they knew we wouldn’t be interested in. So we keep our distance. We don’t cold call. We email one weekly newsletter with opportunities for you to browse in your own time in.

Beyond jobs, we run free networking & information events and interview high-flyers a bit further on in their career, writing a blog to inspire you.

Before I escaped...

We were both management consultants for McKinsey & Company.

My moment of truth...

The first moment was when we were chatting in the pub on a Friday in February 2010, after a very long week in the office. We decided that if we were going to work such long hours again, we’d rather be doing it for ourselves!

We returned to the pub a few weeks later, each with a list of our best business ideas. MoveMeOn rose to the top of that list as it solves problems that we, our friends and our colleagues were experiencing at the time.

The second moment came a couple of months later when we were offered funding by angel investors. We didn’t take the funding but gained confidence in the idea.

Planning for it...

We tested our concept! We asked friends and colleagues whether they’d use a service like this and what they’d want from it. We got back in touch with some of the employers we’d recently met and talked our idea through with them. We met with some seasoned entrepreneurs to get their reaction and advice.

Often people are reluctant to discuss their ideas, as they fear them being stolen. We may have just been lucky, but our experience was quite the opposite and those early discussions really helped to shape our site.

The worst and best bits...

The best things:

1. The flexibility that comes from being your own boss.
2. Being hands on with every aspect of the business (and the learning that comes with that).
3. Watching the site come together - turning our idea into reality.
4. The positive reactions from prospective users.

The worst things:

1. Financial uncertainty.
2. It’s difficult to switch off.
3. Waiting for the site development to be finished - a few months felt like forever!

Best advice...

Thanks to everyone who has given us advice. We’ve received plenty of good stuff but here’s some that stands out:

1. Test your idea; resist being secretive.
2. Don’t go it alone. It’s far more fun to share the experience with someone else.
3. Stop talking; start doing. You don’t have to launch the perfect site! Get a product to market as quickly as possible. Develop what’s critical and put what’s 'nice to have' to one side – this stuff can come later.
4. Try to fund it yourself. If you don’t, you’re no longer your own boss. (P.s. the quicker you get a product to market, the quicker you’ll generate an income from it and the more basic it is, the quicker and cheaper it will be to develop.)

Useful resources and information...

Speaking to people who have 'been there and done it' is amazingly helpful. Try to get in touch with some business founders; take them for a beer and ask for their advice. We’ve found that entrepreneurs enjoy being approached and will always help if they can.

Talk to your (potential) customers as soon as possible. This will help you to understand: the likely demand for your product, the price you can charge, what functionality is critical. Don’t be afraid to: 'cold call' and arrange a meeting; meet before you have a product – a clear concept is enough!

Find a friendly lawyer and accountant to give you some basic advice. http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/home" rel="nofollow">Business Link and the http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/" rel="nofollow">HMRC sites contain lots of important information.