Currently...

For the past year and a half I have been building http://www.rufflr.com/" rel="nofollow">rufflr.com, a fashion website and iPhone app. We soft-launched it a few weeks ago and are already growing at a healthy rate.

It is essentially an online wardrobe and wish list. It’s a really fun and useful way to explore new brands and products. There is also a networking element and it is the first site of this type to give away ownership of the business to users.

Before I escaped...

Before starting rufflr I worked at UBS Investment Bank and for an asset management start-up. I then decided to focus on commercial ventures. I started working on a handful of web-related ideas including two websites which are still running, until the idea for rufflr came about.

My moment of truth...

My moment of truth was when I was 8. At the time, oil cricket bats were expensive so I ‘created’ oil cricket bats out of cheap, plastic covered (polyarmored) bats. People would supply me with the bat; I stripped off the plastic armour with a blowtorch, gave them a good oil and then charged £5 for the job. At the time £5 could buy a lot of sweets.

Planning for it...

I didn't plan too well for the cricket bats, I just took a risk…

By the time it came to rufflr I was a bit more organised! Using some savings, I got to work on a prototype and it all went from there. 

I made a proof of concept site which helped reinforce the idea and then I found some great designers and developers who put it all together. 

A lot of the preparation can be done on evenings and weekends and then when you hand in your notice you can hit the ground running. 

The worst and best bits...

The biggest challenge has been the late nights and remaining strong in my conviction that all this hard work would pay off.

The best bit has been everybody’s fantastic reaction to the site, seeing our user base grow and working with some great people. It’s now a really exciting project.

Best advice...

Some good advice I received a while back was this… “The more time and energy you put into an idea, the more opportunities will arise, doors will open and you will meet lots of helpful, interesting people - regardless of the final outcome”. I thought that was pretty positive. 

Useful resources and information...

• http://techcrunch.com/2011/04/18/little-bets-the-book" rel="nofollow">Little Bets - great for testing the water with business ideas 
• http://www.rbcpa.com/Mungerspeech_june_95.pdf" rel="nofollow">Psychology of Human Misjudgement - a transcript of a speech by Charlie Munger to Harvard University
• http://www.fourhourworkweek.com" rel="nofollow">4-Hour Week - this book contains so many ideas for saving time and money 
• http://www.compete.com/" rel="nofollow">Compete - useful to see what sort of traffic various sites are getting