ON October 31, 2003, my husband and I locked the front door of our family home on the outskirts of London and handed the keys to the estate agent.

We got into our car and waved goodbye to all of our friends and the life we had built since leaving university. We had decided, literally, to risk it all and open our own contemporary gift and homeware store, Insideout.

While in full-time employment we had been unsuccessful in finding retail premises that met our business needs, so we spent the next six months on the road, living between our families and hotels with our one-year-old son Ben, in search of the right property.

We visited more than 270 towns and cities before securing the right premises. After much hard work and with the money made from the sale of our home we opened the doors to the very first Insideout in Tavistock on March 21, 2004. Initially, only Paul and I worked in the shop, often with Ben asleep in the corner. We recruited our first team member just weeks before the birth of our daughter Ffion.

We both had a strong idea of what we wanted to achieve with Insideout. Our mission was to open a store full of inspirational yet affordable products, within a friendly relaxed environment. All the time we had put into the business planning before opening paid off. The response from our customers was phenomenal and very quickly put Insideout on the map.

Not deterred by the demands of our young family, we opened our second store in Dartmouth in December 2005, then in September 2007, our flagship store in Princesshay.

I would be lying if I said it was easy — it's been very challenging growing the business and maintaining our high standards.

Like all small businesses we have a limited cash flow and have had to be very shrewd to finance the opening of our stores. We now have a team of 13 people who are as passionate as we are about our products and providing our customers with an exceptional shopping experience.

Retail is a highly competitive market and over the last six months has sadly seen the downfall of many established retailers. I believe what makes a retailer stand out and be successful is their branding and the way in which they connect and engage customers.

Everything we do at Insideout is with our customers in mind. We have a vast skill base in our team and work hard to utilise everyone's skills to benefit the business, from visual merchandising to marketing.

I work instore with our teams and Paul works from home on our recently-launched website, www.gottohaveit.co.uk. The website has enabled Insideout to reach a far wider audience, with orders coming from as far afield as Australia.

The initial site was part-funded by Business Link, and as a result, we were able to build a strong back end stock system which ensures we are able to fulfil all orders. Insideout now has five prestigious awards under its belt, the most recent the icing on the cake for us. We were named Emerging Retailer of the Year at the National Spring Fair awards 2009. We are thrilled that the judging panel has recognised the Insideout brand as the "next big thing" in our retail sector.

My advice to anyone starting a new business would be to give it your all. Make sure you thoroughly research, plan and understand the obstacles you may face.

I believe you must continually review your business and its results to enable it to grow. As a small business, one of the advantages we have over larger companies is our ability to react quickly to changes in market conditions or customer needs.

To be a successful business you must not be scared of change, it should be embraced. Always listen to feedback from people around you, although you may not always agree or act on the advice given.

One of the most important aspects of any business is how you are perceived by your customers. I think it is critical you love what you do as this reflects in your business.