Tired of the routine 9-5? Fed up of the pen-pushing and jobsworths, and probably very conscious of an acute and growing boredom at your place of work? So you've decided you want to go it alone and work for yourself.

Several questions you must ask at this point are:

Why?

Where?

Who will help?

Why is very important.
If you just don't want the rigours of turning up on time or working to deadlines, unfortunately your own business may be an even sterner taskmaster than someone else's. . The customer may now become your biggest "enemy", instead of your boss, with demands and deadlines for which you, now, must take responsibility. The taxman will not wait for his returns, nor the VAT controller. Furthermore, if you don't plan and work to deadlines, then you can find your business veering madly out of control down all the wrong avenues. So no, deadlines still figure, and all the more so because they are deadlines you must set yourself, and justify.

If boredom is the problem, don't assume that a business in go-go dancing will reduce the boredom factor. Your paperwork still occupies 50% or more of your work time, made only a little more interesting by the fact that if you don't complete it, then you, personally, may be breaking the law.

These points are made as just a couple of the many which should be considered at the start of your own enterprise. Most importantly, don't rely on your own rosy image of self-employment, but talk to others who have done the same of similar, and plan how you are going to handle your change in circumstances. There will be new freedoms, but at the same time, new constraints. If you can't imagine having to work overtime to meet orders so that you have the time available and the finance to go on holiday, then maybe self-employment isn't for you.

Where will you operate?
Many new businesses operate from home, to keep initial overheads down, and so that more hours can conveniently be spent on the administration, which is all new and seemingly endless. This often works well, although it is most important that someone intending to work in this way has a clear understanding that this can easily result in a chaotic melange of domestic and business affairs, and a home which is not very restful because of the constant reminders of work, those open files, the computer whirring in the background, possibly email enquiries arriving at any time of the night or day. Families with young children may find this hard to tolerate. If you let your premises, this does increase your overheads - rental, insurance, utilities, etc, however it makes your business work-hours and expenses easier to delineate, and means it is easier to claim back tax and VAT (if your are VAT registered).

Who can help?
There are a number of ways in which you can obtain help - financial or otherwise, to get your business off the ground. Business advice is a growth industry, and you can get quite a lot for free, from agencies such as Business Link . There are a wide range of grants available for new or expanding businesses, most involve match funding, where you have to put up a proportion of the capital, so if you're planning to spend on your business, make sure you have completed and obtained any such grants before you actually spend any money - most grants will not be available in retrospect. You really have to make a calculation based on the financial assets you alrady have, grant sizes, and business requirements, as towhether you want to delay your business start-up until all the paperwork is completed. You may find that grant-chasing occupies so much of your usable income-earning time that it is untenable as a strategy, and that you just have to get on with the money-making side of things first, particularly if your business is ready to take off from the word go, and has an immediately available and accessible market.

Satisfaction
At the end of the day, the satisfaction in your business will come from your customer response to your product, and the pleasure in building your business and seeing it grow and thrive, and find its own usefulness and potency within the market. Hopefully, you will reach a point where the regular paycheck ceases to have appeal, as your own business reached maturity and dependability. Many businesses fail in their early years, but techniques for success are quite quantifiable and well-established, so the more advice you get at the outset, the smoother your transition will be.

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