I Had a 2.5 Year Career Break After India — So I Built My Own Business Instead

Added: 2026-05-10

[00:00:00]Every interview has asked me the same question. You've been away 2 and 1/2 years. How will you get back up to speed? And eventually, I stopped answering this question and asked myself an entirely different one.

[00:00:12]Hi. Welcome or welcome back to my channel. My name is Agnes. Polish woman, Indian husband, three children, life in the UK. We went [music] to India for 2 and 1/2 years, came back, and now I'm building something amazing. I'm super excited you're here. Let's hop on to today's video.

[00:00:28]So, when we came back from India, I knew I needed a job because life in the UK is expensive. My [music] husband was waiting for us to move the house so that we can renovate it so then he can start his [music] business. But, I could go to work right away. And I thought, I'm going to just put my CV out there, refresh it, and find a job tomorrow because I'm qualified accountant, I have vast amount of experience, and it should be so easy for me to find a job. Little did I know that that's not [music] going to be the case. So, going back to August, when we came back from India, as soon as literally we arrived, I have updated and refreshed my CV. I went to Claude or I think I used ChatGPT. I put my CV out there, and I said, "This is what I've been doing, and this is what I want this CV to be, and help me create a better one." And it spitted out really nicely presented CV. It was really decent. It had everything I needed to have on it. It was highlighting my best skills and the knowledge and, you know, the qualifications that I had.

[00:01:25]Everything that you need to get a job.

[00:01:26]So, I put it out there. I [music] put it on Reed, Indeed. I emailed it to individual agencies. I even looked online to find a jobs. And actually, friend of mine said to me that her company will be recruiting soon, and she will let me know when the recruitment is ready so you can then go online and apply. It wasn't like, you know, job that she would she would just give it to me, but she knew that they will be recruiting soon. So, I was about to apply for this job. That job wasn't coming up for the next 3 months, later I found out. And then, there was a lot of recruitment agents that contacted me because they were very interested in me, and they said "Ah, should find a job. No problem, because I have such a good CV."

[00:02:00]And yeah, the issue might be that I have been away from work for a while, but that shouldn't really stay them from employing me, because I've got such a good experience, and I'm just I've got so many transferable skills that I'm not And I'm very employable, according to the agents. First month went, second month went, and I have had several interviews. And at every interview, I've been asked the same question. [music] You've been away for 2 and 1/2 years.

[00:02:22]How will you get back up to speed? Like, this is just crazy for people to think that you can take a time off work.

[00:02:28]Unless you're pregnant or having a baby and you're taking maternity leave, as a woman, you're not allowed to take a gap from your [music] employment, because it's considered not allowed. It's considered to be [music] damaging to your career. And even if you have a project on the side, which by the way, I chose my family first, and I chose my YouTube [music] career over my professional career, because I really hoped that this is going to be big, and that I'm going to be doing it forever.

[00:02:55]YouTube. It's not like I hated accounts.

[00:02:57]I just didn't really like the corporate life that much. But I knew I needed a job when I came back, because we needed to pay the bills, [music] and our savings were running short. So, I was really frustrated with the job search, and I was hearing from recruitment agents that it's just really tough market right now. You know, there's a lot of people applying for jobs, and senior jobs are not as easy to come, and just everything works against [music] me right now.

[00:03:22]>> Not even an interview. This is just me applying for a job, a financial accountant, to which I am fully qualified to [music] do.

[00:03:29]Sadly, they don't want to even move forward with my application.

[00:03:33]So, what did I did? For a while, I've been contemplating. I've been contemplating actually [music] before we even went to India to open my own business, accounting firm. But I was not confident, because I never worked in a practice, and how would [music] I help people if I don't have that practical experience? And little did I know that I know it all. I just didn't have confidence to start my own thing. And [music] I'm a great bookkeeper. I understand accounting principles because I studied it so long. I just didn't have the practical knowledge, but [music] it all comes with actual doing stuff that you get to [music] experience it and you get better and better at it. So, it's not like I just opened my company without fearing that things would work out. [music] I have reached out to someone who I knew can help because I believe in mentoring and I believe if you have someone in your circle that can help you >> [music] >> get where you want to be, you should definitely reach out. And I met this lady several years [music] back when I started my I think online career, I would say. So, when I started showing myself online through my blog, I reached out to one of the lady who I met through some other I don't actually even remember where we met. Anyway, Martina her name is and she runs a county company as well in Scotland called Cloud 9 and she's fully online based and [music] she's been running it for now 9 years. So, she is a successful business owner in accounting field. So, I reached out to her because I said to her, "Listen, I'm really thinking of opening my own thing because I can't find a job and I think I can do that." And she said, "Of course you can do that." But I said, "But I don't know how." So, she said to me, "Do you know what? I actually have a course that I've written and I recommend you getting it." It wasn't expensive and I thought I can expense it through the company. So, this was my mindset that I am definitely going to open a company. My husband at that point was in China and I was really thinking, should I should I not? So, I started writing the names and like researching the kind of name that I wanted to have and I started going through the course and it was so helpful. It told me exactly what I needed to do in order to set up my limited company. [music] It told me exactly in which order I should do what, apply for AML and then to get the agent code, to get the website up and running, roughly about the marketing. There wasn't too much on it, but enough to kind of get me started on where to for information and also in the meantime she's giving me a person assigned a person to me who would be there in case I had any questions and that was so important for me because so many times there was times where I didn't know what to do or how to approach certain thing and that person was there available to help me. So, on my birthday, the 24th of October 2025, I went on Companies House and I registered my company. Application submitted. You've just applied to set up a limited company and registered it for corporation tax. The application reference number are Getting my first client was very easy actually. I was very lucky to have been introduced by another [music] person to a customer who needed a bookkeeper at that point. They had a mess in their books and they needed someone to come and just sort it out for them. I went, [music] I sorted the mess and I told them that I'm opening my business and I'll be looking for clients and it was like match made in heaven because he needed an accountant and I needed a client. So, we started working together and until today he's my biggest and best client and you always should treat your first client with respect and utmost um priority [music] because he's my first. He was the one who has made me confident that I can do this, that I can help people and that I can make money out of it. So, then I have been introduced to another client [music] who is a lot smaller, nevertheless, it's a client and I am starting to think that I should be working with transport, logistics, freight forwarders and property people because this is the kind of expertise that I have since I've always worked in those kind of industries. Nevertheless, self assessments can be done for anyone that needs [music] them and also A to Z accounting which is anything from bookkeeping through self assessments, payroll, company returns, tax returns and confirmation statements that can be done by me. I can do those things. I work with Xero, so accounting software called Xero. I know how to work with Sage as well, and I know QuickBooks, but Xero is the best system at the moment. I am in a partnership with them, but I'm not recommending them just because I am in a partnership with them. It has everything automated, runs in autopilot, and has actually shortened my work time to about half. So, though I've [music] initially had had to work a lot to catch up with the books of my client, I now work half the time because it's so fast.

[00:08:11]Everything is so easy and seamless, [music] and AI does a lot of pre-work for you, and you only going to have to go and check and maybe just um retype [music] some extra information. So, yeah, and the reports are there, so it's easy for me to present them to the client. So, that's how it is, and that one client, I go to his office only once a week for couple of hours just to collect [music] some documents, and he had everything printed. Everything was printed, everything was filed. I have completely transformed the business to be fully paperless because Xero stores all the invoices on cloud. The bank feeds are internally fed into the system, [music] so nothing gets printed. I literally print absolutely zero documents. But, everything is compatible with HMRC, and that returns are done through the software because it's compatible with HMRC. Anyway, enough of that. I wanted to show you my desk setup because [music] some of you might want to know.

[00:09:04]So, this is my desk setup.

[00:09:08]And I am in my bedroom, [music] actually. This is This is my bedroom.

[00:09:13]But, for now, it has to be the way it is. Here, we will have a wardrobe eventually, and [music] my desk will end up going to living room. But, for now, it is what [music] it is. I have a big monitor. This is, I believe, 30 >> [music] >> 2-in, but it's a curved screen. As you can see, it's curved.

[00:09:32]And it's quite nice because when I have remote desktop connection, [music] I have two screens on both sides, and then I can also use my own screen right [music] here. So I'm using Mac. This is just normal Mac.

[00:09:43]And it's connected via bolt 4 cable onto the monitor.

[00:09:49]And I'm also using connected [music] wireless see Logi uh signature keyboard and mouse. There is my planner where I write [music] the dates and everything. My calculator, some pens at [music] the back. There is a router.

[00:10:06]And I have a smart connection cable here. I call it smart [music] connection. It's not really smart, but smart how I organize it. Because here I can charge my phone.

[00:10:16]>> [music] >> And here I can charge the other phone.

[00:10:19]And here is the network of cables. Not most organized [music] as it can be.

[00:10:24]But you know, it is what it is. I can probably push this cable back.

[00:10:29]There we go.

[00:10:31]So it doesn't take that much space.

[00:10:32][music] My husband tried gluing that thing in here, but it just doesn't work.

[00:10:35]So it is now full [music] what it is.

[00:10:38]And it's a sit and stand desk. So I can lower it to lower level should I wish to. That's supposed to sit.

[00:10:45]>> [music] >> I think it's not set up properly.

[00:10:49]So if I want to, I can lower it down and it goes down. Here I've got a printer and stack of rubbish if I need to print [music] anything. Like yesterday I was printing something for myself at school.

[00:10:58]Other than that, I don't really print much, but it's there if you need to print anything.

[00:11:02]>> [music] >> So yeah, that's the sitting level.

[00:11:05]But I like to stand because I have back problems. So if I'm standing [music] once in a while, that helps me relieve the pain from the back. Just wanted to mention one of my subscriber who has mentioned that he wanted to see my desk set up. Thank you so much for suggesting this question and I hope you're happy to see what you've asked me to show. Some of you may want to know how it is to run a business as a mommy of three cuz I've got three children. I have to cook. I have to clean. We don't have maids in the UK though that was the case in India. Oh my god, life in India was so easy.

[00:11:35]And now we're back in England and everything is just so hectic and busy, not easy. On top of it all, I still do YouTube. On top of it all, I started writing a book, which I'll talk about at some point. And I've also written UK guide for Indian people coming to England because I have that expertise of knowing what India is like, of knowing what it is to be a foreigner in England.

[00:11:57]So, I've written a really nice guide and I will put the link in the description below, just in case you wanted to check it out or give it to someone who you know might be coming to the UK. But how it is to run a life as a mommy and run a business as well. It's challenging, guys. I have to juggle a lot. And actually, I started doing what's called blocking. And I know some people use Notion and I used to use Notion until it was free and then they told me to pay for it and I thought I'm not going to pay that much. I didn't see enough worth on it to be investing money into it. I might do in the future because it's getting really, really hectic. So, for example, this is the plan, okay? Monday to Saturday, Sunday even, because I have plans all the way. I have written down what I want to do in a specific time.

[00:12:35]So, for example, work on the client number one, I blocked out from 9:00 to 11:00. At 9:30, I have a meeting with someone in between. Then 11:00 to 12:00, I will work through my [music] map. So, I have a meeting with a inner circle from Progressive. I'll talk to you about that in a minute. I also have a meeting at 10:30 with potential client. And at 11:00 also with a potential client, someone that needs to discuss something with me, potentially will become my client. Then at 12:00 to 2:00, I will do some work on my book. And from 2:00 to 3:00, which is just before the school run, I will work on my YouTube. So, I'll edit the video and work on my social media. At 7:30, I have a Vinyasa flow at the gym. And this is to kind of make sure that I don't forget anything and so that I block space so that I can actually get things done. Because if I don't block it, I end up being very ad hoc. So, that means if the phone rings, I'll answer in between, I'll answer the email in between, I'll do some work in between, and maybe, I don't know, chat with Claude about something that I needed to discuss and something that was sitting on my head. And it's just chaotic. And I'm quite organized. So, this is very much chaotic in my understanding of chaos. But, on top of that, then the children come from school. And once the children are at home, they want food, they want to do something. I need to make sure they do their tuition. I need to make sure that they do their homework, that they do their reading, that they have shower on time, and that I clean their clothes, and I put them away as well. So, yeah, it is busy, guys. as a mommy to run a business, but it's possible. If you really want it, [music] and if you are woman that strives to be successful and wants to run a business, it's all possible. It's just a matter of finding the right tools that work for you. And I find that writing things on piece of paper, like maybe not necessary to do list, [music] because I don't really do to-do list. I just see kind of what and when needs to be done. So, I allocate given time for it. [music] And also, make sure you, you know, stay healthy and fit as you go. It's not going to help you things. And always have a water on your side, because it's important to hydrate.

[00:14:28]Yeah, my throat is getting very dry now.

[00:14:30]Okay, I think that's enough of me ranting about my business. I just wanted to show you that this is the website that I have. It was created for me by one of the guy in India, actually. So, as I've been to India, I've made few connections. And actually, this connection was given to me by someone else that I know. And he's created very nice website for me, guys. If you wanted [music] to check it out, it's called masltd.net.

[00:14:53]So, mam >> [music] >> mas stands for Man Accounting Services, LTD for Limited,.net, because I couldn't get.com.

[00:15:00]>> [music] >> It just wasn't available anymore.

[00:15:02]So, yeah. So, I serve small businesses, because big big businesses is not like I can't. I can, because I worked in big businesses. But, usually big businesses have accountants in place. [music] They would probably have AP, AR, maybe payroll person, and maybe financial controller, maybe even financial director. So, when you have a small business, you have to have one person [music] for all of those things. And I'm the kind of person. So, if you need my services, please don't forget to book an appointment and I'll drop link in the description below for the website where [music] you can actually go. And here it says schedule call.

[00:15:31]So, if you go to schedule the call, >> [music] >> it will give you my calendar for 30 minutes meeting for discovery call.

[00:15:36]Discovery call is absolutely free of charge. You can do that and book a call with me and I can advise you on whether we can [music] work together or there is something that I can help you with accounting wise. And if you need any other help, I'm here too because I am [music] jack-of-all-trades master of none as they say it. I can do a lot of things and maybe help you with other things as well. So, yeah. I highly encourage you guys to get in touch and comment in the video below if there is anything that you wanted to find [music] out in terms of how to set up the business or how to run a business. And if you wanted to say anything else, please drop it down in the comment section. And I probably refer you to the video that I've just recently shot about my children and about raising half Indian half Polish children in the UK.

[00:16:19]>> [music] >> It was a video which I created together with my children which I found very interesting and heartwarming to see them on my video as well. So, I recommend you watch that now.