I DIDN'T set out in life to run a business. I was quite happy being employed or working as a subcontractor. When you are young you just want that security of having a pay cheque at the end of the month.

Before I started Ayrmer Software in October 2002, I was working as a freelance developer for various software houses, predominantly in London and Glasgow.

I had been doing that since 1995 but I got frustrated and realised that I could do it better than the companies I was working for. I could have carried on doing what I was doing but circumstances made me decide the time was right and I went for it.

At first it was just me working at home, a real kitchen table type approach, but right from day one the aspiration was to build a company that was something more than just one man offering a service.

I knew how to write software and how to talk to businesses, but I certainly didn't realise what I was letting myself in for. I hadn't run a business and I certainly wasn't a solicitor or accountant. You have to learn it but at the same time you have to learn to delegate the right jobs to the right people.

You start a business and no one knows you are out there. You are the needle in the haystack that no one is even looking for, so the challenge is to build a good reputation.

We built our own website and that worked quite well for us for the first two years, so I didn't do much marketing other than client referrals.

Since 2004, we have relied quite heavily on business networking across the country, which has been very successful for building relationships.

People don't just wake up and think they want to spend £20,000 on software. You have to work hard with someone who doesn't know you to get that level of trust.

The first time things got really difficult was about 18 months in, when I picked up a contract with an international company and had cleared the decks for what was a major project. The client pulled the plug on it, so I had three months where I basically had no work at all.

I remember sitting down on a Friday and thinking I'm going to follow up every lead I have and if I don't close some business I'm going to give up. By that evening I had closed a contract with what turned out to be one of our biggest clients.

That did feel like a dark day but you never fail until you stop trying, so you have just got to never give up.

I suppose that comes down to having belief in yourself and your business and what you are doing.

If it was easy to run a successful business everyone would be doing it, and it does demand a high degree of commitment and resilience.

Knowing your limitations is important. In year four, we took on a business coach and used him for about 18 months. He made a huge difference and pushed us into a space where we may have got to in the end but it would have taken much longer. So where there's good solid advice, use it.

If people are starting a business they need to be clear about what they are offering and to whom they are offering it. The other golden rule is never undervalue what you can offer. When a lot of businesses go under in the first year it's not because they are not doing a good job but because they are not charging enough. If you are having to sell on price you are doomed, certainly as a consultancy business.

We can't compete on price with offshore programmers — we have to go for excellence and really do the best job we can. We are still here, still speaking to new clients and still picking up contracts.

The objective this year was to hit £250,000 in turnover. Most of our projects are in the range of £25,000 to £30,000 and have a life cycle of three to four months.

Ayrmer now employs four people. I often hear businesspeople say the most successful businesses surround themselves with good people, and I totally concur with that. The better your team, the better your chances of building a successful business.