1. An accountant: Not only do you need to keep a track of your bill payments, service and product invoicing, tax and GST returns, but you also have to remember that when you are out on your own completely, there is no holiday pay or sick days. Make sure you factor these things in when working out costs and self-payment, and make sure you keep up-to-date with your accounts.

2.    a) A sponge: You need to soak up every little piece of information to do with your industry. For Ever. If there is a new development, you need to know about it, and be prepared to factor it into your game plan.

b) Just like a sponge, from time to time you will be completely wrung out. You have to be prepared to start soaking everything back up again at some point though, or otherwise: You Will Fail.

3.   A Shellfish, I mean Selfish: with your time, your attention, your everything. Those close to you need to know this, and you need to be aware that you have to give a ridiculous amount of attention to your new business. You need to do this to make it work.

4.   A tree: Very “theatre darling” I know, but maybe 5^th form drama class might come in handy here. Be patient: grow a solid base, make sure your roots are strong. Once you feel able build off this, make a solid trunk to your business. If you are successful enough you might look into growing branches, and if you can afford, add some leaves and flowers, but always look after the roots and trunk of your business. Aim to be the Tane Mahuta of the business forest (cheesy I know!)

5.   A box of dynamite: You need the ability to go off when you need to. Be prepared to talk about your business, exhibiting all your passion and pizzazz at the drop of a hat, even when you feel like 2b.

This is not an exhaustive list. You will need to wear many hats. Make sure you know when you are out of your depth, recognise this and pay someone else to worry about it!