Setting up shop

I am the daughter of parents who for many years successfully ran their own small retail business. In order to start it, they scrimped and saved and worked hard to raise the capital required to secure premises and buy stock.

They began with one shop and eventually expanded to three outlets. My mother, a born saleswoman, did all the buying and selling while my father, who had a head for figures and hands for maintenance, did the book keeping and any practical tasks that needed doing.

In the early years of the business I was still at school. And while many of our friends and family naturally assumed when I was old enough that I would follow my parents into their business, they both did a good job of dissuading me.

Their reasoning was it was far better to have a career and be in employment where at the end of each month a regular sum of money would appear in your bank account.

Being self-employed is a risky business. The journey to success usually follows a path full of potholes and entrepreneurs wishing to tread it require a lot of patience and determination to reach their goals.

Peace of mind, they thought, was far better than enduring a work life riddled with anxiety and uncertainty. So instead, I became a journalist and had a lengthy career working for evening newspapers around the country.

However, I did not completely escape the lure of the business world because it was not long into my career that I started to specialise in business reporting and editing.

The fact is the world of business and industry has always fascinated me. The making and selling of goods, is after all what makes the world go round. Plus, there are so many different strands to explore: from manufacturing and mining, to finance and technology.

Over the years I have written about most of them. I have visited numerous industrial sites including steel and chemical plants, and many, many headquarters of important service industry companies. I have interviewed Chief Executives and Managing Directors of some of the most well-known companies based not just in the UK, but from around the world.

Conversely, I have also written numerous articles about far more small and medium sized businesses than I can remember.

To me business is exciting. It is after all, where a large proportion of us spend our working days and look to consistently challenge ourselves to be better and work smarter, not just for the good of the company, but for our own self-validation.

So at long last, I have rebelled against my parents and set up shop for myself combining my two passions of writing and business.

My new start-up is called Business Showcase. Unlike my parents, my shop is situated on the World Wide Web and provides a window from which businesses can display their wares and promote themselves.

And finally, because I have an inherent affinity with small businesses, it will champion start-ups and sole traders by giving them the ability to connect to their customers via content by offering competitive rates

So I invite you all to take a look around my virtual shop. To enter just click here www.businessshowcase.co.uk