“Truly, learning comes on the job and working with experienced people and asking questions.
“My exam was 20 years ago but I learned so much more sitting with, meeting with and talking to very experienced people, almost by osmosis.
“Seeing what they do and how they react in different situations with clients gives so much more than actually writing an exam.”
What are the biggest challenges facing new business owners today?
“The first thing is raising money to start a business - It is a very difficult environment and has been so for the last couple of years and will continue to be so for a while.
“I think another real problem is [building a team]. You start with thinking is this person enough to do the job? But that's the obvious bit.
“When you're hiring people, it's understanding who they are as human beings. You want a team player and someone whose values align with yours, I would say that makes a big difference.”
If you own your own advice firm and would like to feature in the Coffee Corner interview series, get in touch at tara.o’connor@ft.com.
