Have you ever thought of ditching your day job and working for yourself? No boss, no commute, no arguing over whose turn it is to make the tea. Running your own business is wonderful, hard work and, most of all, a huge learning curve.

I run my own business. SugarCat Publishing is an internet publisher, which means we make websites, then sell the advertising space on them. My dad (who ran his own business) helps with the financial stuff, and my mum (who retrained at the age of 59) is our web developer. Our flagship website is The Career Break Site, which provides free, independent information about gap years for adults.

I collected lots of useful information as I established my business, which is presented for you here in an easy-to-digest