Quitting the nine-to-five slog

Sir Alan Sugar

- Search: Starting your own business

You will need certain personal qualities to run your own business. Sir Alan Sugar has plenty of tips for budding entrepreneurs:

Desire: Understand what or who inspires you. The desire to succeed needs to come from deep within - it's not something you can fake.

Goals: Having a vision is about using your imagination, it is about stretching your brain to think differently.

Momentum: To succeed in business you need the discipline to stay focussed, to build your momentum and to maintain a steady pace.

Learning: Continuing to learn is one of the most important keys to succeeding in business.

Focus: Avoid developing self-indulgent habits during the working day. A pattern of late starts, long lunches and late-night working all hand the advantage to your competitors.

If you have these qualities in abundance, then being self-employed can be a seriously great lifestyle change as Lucy Jolin found out.

She left her nine-to-five job at Take a Break magazine to become a freelance journalist:

"As I've got a one-year-old son, I love not having to explain and apologise to an employer if he's ill and I can't work.

"I love being able to have fun with my son whenever I like and not having the pressures that come with being a mother and a company employee.

"I also love not having to take on a job if I don't want it, and as I've never been an office person, I love having my own space. I also love not having to commute further than my study."

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