"I knew that if I failed I wouldn't regret that, but the one thing I might regret is not trying."

Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.

So, 6 months after opening our pilates and Personal Training studio we have turned an idea and pipe dream into something more tangible.

There is something very satisfying in taking what seems to be a big risk at the time to follow a path to a goal or destination that has been on the radar forever, but always seemed out of reach. Unlike Mr Bezos, we were not looking for global domination. It was a relatively small dream, but our dream. After 25 years of hard graft in London, the plan was to up sticks, move to our favourite area of the UK, and set up a lifestyle business working the hours we wanted to work in an industry that we had a passion for. In essence to be Master's of our own destiny.

Inside 4 months we taken an empty building, furnished it with the equipment above, and most importantly filled it with paying clients. The dream becomes a reality, and what's more, the reality actually works ...

We're certainly a lot busier than I expected us to be at this stage (we're currently bringing in 70% of the revenue that I wanted us to make), particularly as we have grown the business organically (mainly through word of mouth) with the occasional Facebook Ad. One of the key factors that I don't want to forget, is that we set this up as a lifestyle business (i.e. so we can spend more time as a family) which is why we've given ourselves a ceiling for total working hours and times that we're prepared to work. I find this quite an alien concept, after so many years in the city chasing the dollar. But it is a key component of why we did the move, and direction we want to be travelling in. Yes, we won't have as much free capital as our previous life, but the stress free, family filled times and independence more than makes up for it. I genuinely think that one of the biggest stresses of being in the rat race is not being in control of your own time and space. Unfortunately being my own boss, probably won't turn back my grey hairs to dark brown, but hopefully it will at least slow down their rate of change!

So, 6 months in I can honestly report back and say that the dream is loving up to the hype (I'm really not too sure what I would have done if it hadn't!). If you're planning a similar move, or want to get an ESCAPE PLAN in place, please read on ...