I founded Etherlive in 2007 after spending 14 years in a global semi-conductor corporation. Since formation, along with my co-founder, we have grown the company to be a leader in our sector; surviving a recession and all of the classic (and more unusual) growing pains of a small business. Before forming Etherlive I read numerous books about starting a business, however, having gone through the experience myself I realised that the books tend to focus on the big success stories of businesses that grow rapidly and very successfully. These stories are great but in reality they reflect a very small percentage of start-ups. The majority of start-ups either fail or take a much longer period to mature into stable, small or medium enterprises, and often never reach superstar status. These businesses have their own story to tell of hard working individuals struggling below the media (and Government) radar to build and maintain their own little enterprises. These articles look at different aspects of starting and growing a small business with a firm focus on the reality — covering people, behaviours, the impact on founders and some of the more controversial aspects of surviving in business.