Striking out on your own might seem risky in a recession – but if you've been sitting on a great business idea, being made redundant could provide you with the starting point you need. Downturns often encourage creativity as well as careful budgeting – Apple, Microsoft and Facebook were all recession startups.
But setting up a business is not a straightforward process. Whether you're at the beginning of your career or you have years under your belt, there are lots of difficult questions to answer.
Our experts will be on hand to answer your questions from 1pm-2pm on Thursday 24 September. They include business consultant Alison Branagan, author of a new book called Making Sense of Business, and Simon Crosland, an enterprise development manager at Business Link.
Your questions and our experts' answers will appear below – advice is for guidance only.
