Currently...

Following a long hard day in a bank, I desperately wanted to cook a quick and healthy dinner at home. But it was such a stressful task.

Instead of enjoying domestic bliss, I found myself traipsing around the supermarket, pulling out cookbooks and agonising over the measurements and nutritional content.

In this day and age, with everyone too busy to organise themselves, why was there no one planning this sort of thing on my behalf? I decided to take up the challenge and started up Spoonfed Suppers in 2010.

It's an online service that plans suppers that are fuss free and guilt free. It helps you save money, time and energy for the more important things in life - like maximising your free time!

Before I escaped...

I used to work as an FX and emerging market debt salesperson in an investment bank. Then I spent some time as an investor relations and marketing associate at a global hedge fund. I started in 2005 and left in 2009.

It wasn't a particularly long stint in the City - but it was long enough for me to realise that I didn't enjoy the culture, the working conditions (the trading floor is actually scarily similar to battery hen farming!) and the politics.

And most of all, I never found a boss to whom I could look up and aspire. I think that is the most important thing in a career. It doesn't matter what job you are doing now or how much you earn as long as you can see someone you would like to be. Then you know what you are working towards. If you don't have that, you don't have direction and you're very likely to zig zag between jobs. Just like I did!

My moment of truth...

There were a couple of moments of truth really. I joined a hedge fund during the worst financial crisis since the 1930s and I had to report to and manage investors expectations, as well as attract new interest. It was possibly a bit like trying to be a lion tamer. A very bad one.

Then I got engaged and married 14 months later. But all I could see in the lead up to the wedding was the increased expectation that I would put my life on hold for a workplace that didn't really care about me. I found this very difficult.

Finally, I was sick of listening to everyone debate dinner options with their spouse, partners or flatmates every night at about 6.30pm. It was the worst kind of predictable conversation. It was ground hog day and I felt I could change it.

Planning for it...

Well, having worked in the City for a few years, I knew that I was going to leave pretty pronto. I never found my feet in the environment, so I decided I would pocket as much money as I could.

Perhaps, had I been a bit more bling, I would have appreciated the culture. But I am not sure that money equals happiness. I think money (and spending money) increases the chance you are tied to heavy mortgages and spending patterns (mulberry bags and the like) that you will never leave. So I banked half my net salary for a couple of years. Not only did this mean I had the money to just "go for it" but also I had experienced living with my belt pulled in.

Moving from a well paid job to a, well, no-paid job, didn't feel as hard as it perhaps should have done as a result.

Apart from that, I networked with other people setting up a business online and I took a particular interest in people working in sectors other than those centred around the City. It gave me perspective - other people do just fine without working in a bank.

The worst and best bits...

Best things: I love waking up everyday and thinking - right, what shall I tackle today? Everything I have achieved - from my 1 page article in the Guardian, to the redesign of my website and service - is entirely my own doing. It's a dream.

I do work hard, sometimes even until 2am, but I do it because it's my baby, not because some manager is telling me to get something on their desk by 8am the next morning. It makes a world of difference and I feel so rewarded.

However, on the other hand, that does mean spending many hours on my own in a study in Clapham. My husband finds I can talk for Britain when he gets home - because I am probably a little starved of company. Likewise, I lacked the sounding board I needed at first.

I found I could get quite tangled up in my own thoughts and almost too scared to make any moves. It was perpetual checkmate. Until I got a mentor.

Best advice...

My two biggest tips would be 1) get a mentor; 2) network with other start ups.

1) A mentor is really important as it's someone that can help you to get a little direction. He or she won't tell you what to do with your business - it is yours after all - but they can steer you and help you recognise the path forwards.

2) And networking is crucial. Not only will you find synergies and partnerships with other start ups, you will find a network of like minded people who will help in whatever way they can. A good analogy for start up networking is that it's a bit like backpacking on your own. You meet other people who are in a similar position and recognise that you have to get out there and talk to others or else risk spending a long time on your own without knowing all the hotspots to visit. It's very different to trying to chat to someone in Tesco. Both a mentor and network will help you remember why you started your business in the first place.

I wish I had known how long it would take to set up and get a business going. But then...I probably wouldn't have been brave / crazy enough to have gone for it so perhaps it's best I didn't know!

Useful resources and information...

http://innovatelondon.org/about-us/">Innovate London is a great source of help. It is backed by regional development agencies and helps me to network, get business support and resources, as well as to find that mentor. I have been to so many good events organised by them and I always come away totally inspired.