So you want to start a small business?

The clock-radio bleets loudly, and you close your eyes and try not to think about going to work.

Despite every assurance that a particular machine contained no valuable information whatsoever, and did not need to be on the backup schedule, it's now dead; and it's your job to recover the only copy of the now vital reports contained therein.

You've been working unpaid overtime for months, and management have been ignoring your pleas for extra technical staff. There seems to be an increasing trend for your boss to hand you poorly defined projects, with impossible deadlines and insufficient resources. To top it all off, the so-called coffee at work is undrinkable.

Don't you just wish that you could quit that lousy job and start your own business, working on the things that you actually enjoy doing?

A dose of reality for anyone thinking of striking out on their own in the world of computer consultancy.