HAVING just celebrated my 25th birthday, it has dawned on me that I have now been working for seven years since leaving school, for two of which I’ve been self-employed.

I know that compared to many people this might not be a very long time but, for me it really does feel like an eternity, especially as I haven’t always enjoyed some of the jobs that I’ve had to endure.

Reflecting back, after completing my formal education, I admit that upon leaving school I did feet pretty lonely when entering the big wide world. Before this I’d gained very little careers advice and had no actual idea what it was that I wanted to do.

If you would have asked me at the age of 10, what it was that I wanted to achieve when I grow up, I would have probably screamed at you, “I want to be a ‘pop star’”; however, that was just a childhood fantasy and one that thankfully passed with age.

After eventually stumbling into an occupation, I trundled along, working for a variety of different companies. Deep down I knew that there had to be more to life than just turning up for work and completing mundane tasks set by managers and bosses. To be truthful, I’ve always wanted to be able to think and make decisions for myself.

Eventually, my thoughts turned toward becoming self-employed and starting my own business. I have to admit it was a pretty scary decision. Again, at this point in time I felt very isolated, frightened and scared; however, I still went ahead with it any way.

Today, I’m sure that there are people who are at this moment in time considering taking this giant leap forward themselves. They’re probably weighing up all the pros and cons, just the same as I did. This is a life changing decision and one not to bet taken lightly.

In order to not feel so alone and anxious about making this mammoth decision there are organizations such as The Princes Trust, Business Link and other enterprise schemes that people can draw an immense amount of help from.

At the start of this year I came across several young individuals desperate to discover more about how to start their own businesses, but lacking the confidence and knowledge to do so. I wanted to offer some help myself so, with this in mind, I decided to offer a personal one-to-one mentoring scheme.

Following on from this, several weeks ago I launched a new company called Time2Shine Ltd, which offers support and encouragement for those wanting to be able to work for themselves.

I try to offer all the correct tools and information to help specific individuals to navigate through the difficulties when starting a new business. I believe that having a mentor by your side can make a huge impact on a young persons life. It could possibly make be the difference between success and failure

You may also want to check out a local charity that helps to support and develop education business link activities. You can get in touch and find information Suffolk EBP at www.suffolkebp.co.uk.

Being a mentor takes little time but makes a huge impact on a young persons life. If you feel you have had enough of sitting back and watching our younger community struggle, you can do something to help.

For more information about my own personal mentor scheme please visit www.time2shineltd.co.uk

n What’s your view? Get in touch with Rachel Ducker via email at mail@woadb.co.uk