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I wasn't necessarily in the same position to you but I had some similarities.

I studied AAT whilst at a firm of chartered accountants and went on to do ACCA. I was unhappy at the firm as my willingness to work hard and progress wasn't being noticed and to a degree I was being held back my office politics and staff who had no interest in progressing.

I looked around for a while but nothing seemed to be about at the time that I fancied. I had always wanted to set up my own firm but wasn't sure if the time was right. I then found another role that seemed great but they were going through a lot of change. Even though they had said they wanted me, six months passed with them still saying something will happen soon.

I decided to leave the security of employment and take my wifes bookkeeping company a step further using my accounts prep and tax experience. My current firm told me I was stupid to not only leave employment but also stop studying ACCA but good luck. A week before my notice was up the potential new employer came back with a job offer. I told them what I had done and that I had now made my mind up. They struggled to see why I didn't want to work with them. They blatantly told me I was stupid and that it wouldn't work!

I made sure I had roles set up before I left employment that meant I could last a year with no other income before I would need a job of some sort. I was confident with the ideas I had that it would work.

Things worked out well for me. The practice has grown to over 4 times the client base in the last year. We are currently taking on a part-time employee and I have made the short-list for Accountancy Age AAT Accounting Technician of the Year 2010.

However even though it can be done it doesn't mean it will work for everyone. I was confident it would work but I was also prepared for failure. It would have hurt my pride but I would have gone back to my old employer for a job should I have needed to.

I also have three small children and a fourth on the way so I understand what the pressures are of having a family to support. This is even more the reason to think about what you are doing and how it will work. Taking the decision to stop studying may be wise if you feel the pressure is too much. However running your own business brings it's own pressures. As I'm sure you are aware things don't just happen overnight. It takes lots of time and effort to get your first clients. Even then you might only have a few hours chargeable work to do per week but you also need to spend nearly the same amount on marketing the practice. Whether that be arranging adverts, networking (face to face and on-line) or simply doing admin.

Although I've done well over the last year it has taken a great deal of time and effort.

Only you really know if you can make it work and even then it still may not. Ensure that whatever decision you make you are happy with and won't regret. You may even decide to do something part-time alongside another job for a while to see how things go? With this though bare in mind that it's part time and things are a lot slower. Our bookkeeping business was very slow for the first 3 years when it was just part time.

I apologise for such a long post but hopefully it helps you in making the right decision for you.

Thank you kindly. Best of luck with your decisions