While working all hours and pouring over your cashflow, margins and marketing plans has made you one of the survivors, you are probably feeling in need of a boost to find the enthusiasm and creativity that made you start out in the first place.

Here are our top tips to help you get back on track and ready to take full advantage of the upturn.

It's a common saying that more businesses fail due to lack of cash than lack of profit. With the banks toughening up their lending criteria these days, credit is harder to access so managing your cash is even more important.

The seasonality of much of the wedding industry makes this an even greater challenge, so make sure you are not caught out with our 5 top actions.

We all know that starting your own business is exciting, but stressful. And that excitiement can take you a long way. But to be successful in the long term you need to make sure that you don't end up with just the stress. And let's face it, working with brides to be can be just a little stressful from time to time!

Burnout is a major cause of business failure. Overloaded owners simply walk away because they can't take any more - often with serious financial and emotional implications. Make sure you don't join them by looking after yourself from day 1. Here are our top tips:

Have you worked out how much you value yourself recently?

If you intend to have a business rather than simply making some money from a hobby, then putting a value on your time is an essential part of your pricing and business planning.

Creative people frequently underestimate the time and effort involved in creating their product - and sadly, all too often customers fail to appreciate it too. Brides-to-be can be particularly hard to convince - not realising how much time we have to spend ensuring everything is perfect for them! Make sure you don't fall into the trap.