1) What are you currently doing with your life?

It is early days for Sorsd.com as we launched in November 2011, so I am travelling between the UK, France (where we warehouse the goods) and Asia.

Prior to launch my days were mainly filled with website design, talking with menswear designers and discovering new brands. The idea behind Sorsd is to group together a team of buyers who look out for young and less know brands as an alternative to the usual big-name brands.

Now we have launched daily tasks have grown to include meeting bloggers, buttering up journalists, dealing with customs, signing contracts with shipping companies in various countries and of course communicating with our growing customer base.

2) What did you do before this?

I was working in management consulting - which I enjoyed but knew I wanted to branch out on my own. Prior to getting into consulting I had spent a year learning Chinese in Beijing, and it was during this time I had gained a lot of business ideas (along with a big hole in my pocket). 

So that took me back to London. Working in the corporate environment was a great experience but I felt I had learnt what I could from it after a year, and got the opportunity to continue my studies. I embarked on a product design course in Seoul (quite a departure from my Psychology and Business degree) which would give me the time to focus on what has now become Sorsd.com. I chose Korea for its progressive design culture and proximity to manufacturing powerhouse China.

3) What was your moment of truth?

Even after I had quit my job I still felt unsure about what direction I was going to go. All I knew was I needed to start something. I started to focus on the things I love - design and travel, and decided to design a career around them. 

It all came to me on a sleepless night about 2 months after my arrival to Seoul. All my plans and ideas seemed to gel that night and the next day I began working towards what you see today.

4) How did you plan for it?

The success of reaching where we have today was more a result of flexibility than planning. The idea has grown, developed, changed and u-turned many times, and that is just part of a young business. We never set any idea or assumption as fixed, and are still developing our idea even after launch.

The most crucial bit of planning was deciding how to create a business around my interests. I knew that if I focused on something I could really get my teeth into and enjoy spending time on, I would make it a success. 

5) What have been the best and worst things about making this happen?

The best bits are spending the whole day working, 7 days a week and enjoying every minute of it. I look forward to waking up in the morning to develop it further, a feeling I never had when working in consulting.

The worst bit is the time it takes to get it off the ground - delays, beyond my control, were frustrating when all you want to do is move quickly and get things up and running. We have had shipments held up in customs, problems with the website which took weeks to resolve and even 

6) What was the best advice you have received

Speaking from experience, the dos are:

- Talk to everyone about your idea. Your friends are a great source of advice and ideas and will help you along your way if you include them!

- Start planning and working on your idea while you are in your current job (no excuses!) - you would be surprised how far you can go with just a little bit of time each week. This also means you'll have more money to fund your idea and hit the ground running when you do quit.

and the don'ts

- Don't go it alone - set it up with someone who you can have a laugh with, has shared goals, and brings different skills to the mix.

- You probably don't need much funding to start the business on a small scale, so go as far as you can with the money you have. Investors will be much more receptive if you have proved your concept on a small scale, and if you can avoid investors and grow organically all the better!

7) What resources or information have you found really helpful?

Quite specific to online retail, but I have found our e-commerce platform's forum (http://www.prestashop.com/forums) a great place to discover more about the tools available. Prestashop is open source and has a great community you can call on for technical help.

Also a great help are government websites with advice for VAT, TAX etc for each country we retail in. 

Of most use, however, are the contacts i have made by getting out and talking to people. Get others as excited (well nearly) about your idea and they will be more than glad to help out! Of most use are friends who know friends who know journalists. Be especially nice to them.