We last spoke to Caroline Lashley way back in June 2003 just a few months after she founded her PR company the Editors Office. We thought it high time we paid her another visit to find out how she has been getting along.

How has your business been getting along since we last spoke?
It’s been tough – it’s a very different experience from when I last tried to run a business in my twenties. But with that said, I think staying in my previous day job, when clearly it was time for me to move on, would’ve been tougher: Ever so often I use my previous workplace as a benchmark to see how far I’ve come. When I hear some of those horror stories, I’m quite glad to be independent and running my own show even if I am on less money.

What do you feel you have learnt about running a business and yourself in this time?
I feel I’ve learnt to trust my judgement much more than I would’ve done had I stayed in corporate UK. I’m not yet earning the kind of money I’d like but I do have freedom to change that and implement my own ideas – something I doubt I’d have been allowed to do back at my old job.
I’ve learnt to pace myself better now that I’m on my own – I burnt myself out by Christmas 2003, which was not a good. Since then, I’ve managed to acquire a board of advisors that I can bounce ideas off – I don’t always agree with some of their suggestions, but isn’t that one of the points about having autonomy? Seriously though, having a board of advisors is very useful – especially if you’re very creative and have too many ideas.

What about being your own boss, has it turned out how you expected?
I thought I’d be really excited about being the boss, and most of the time, but there are some mornings where you don’t want to get out of bed, much less run a business. Money’s been a major worry so in some ways, when I get really low, I call a particular colleague who’s been independent for longer than I have and when I hear his problems, it’s put things right into perspective. It’s quite sobering.

What do you feel has been your biggest achievement since starting up?
I suppose getting past the two-year -mark is a major achievement. Trying not to run out of money when bigger companies than you have failed is a major achievement. Teaching at the London College of Communication. Holding my nerve when I have been up against ‘it.

What has been your biggest disappointment?
I thought I’d be a lot further along the way in terms of making money – that’s a major disappointment. However, I’ve realised from watching the news that even big businesses have their struggles on that front. But sometimes it’s hard to hear that some of your contemporaries in the entrepreneurial network are doing well financially which can leave wondering where you’re going wrong.

Looking back, what would you have done differently?
I think the only thing I would’ve done differently would be to have a flexible, part-time job to keep the money coming in when the business has been slow. But as I was determined to keep away from corporate UK, I’ve had to make sure I found other ways to earn and raise cash. I suppose there are things that any of us in business could have done differently but some of us are too busy to go back and check which turning point we should’ve taken as opposed to the one we have taken.