To achieve her goals, Jane initially studied the following course options:
ICB Levels 2 & 3, one our Self-Employment course packages
ICB Level 3 Diploma in Payroll Management

A Cheltenham woman is looking to grow her own business after taking the plunge on a massive career change at the age of 48.

Following eight months of intensive full-time study with Ideal Schools, Jane Gray has set up Charlton Gray to provide turnkey bookkeeping and business services to the area’s business community. And although her firm is only in its infancy, Jane’s aspirations go beyond that of creating an optimal work-life balance for herself.

 “I would like to take it as far as I can,” she said. “Once there is enough work, I am hoping to hire on other bookkeepers and branch out into other areas of business support and troubleshooting.

“I definitely want to grow something for myself – I don’t want to go back to the corporate world.”

With a background in events, sales and project management, Jane was employed in the Education sector before deciding a few years ago to set up her own small online business. But as a single mum with three children, the circumstances “weren’t working for me”.

 She wanted to continue to work from home running a business that would give her control over her own time and schedule. After considering various options, she decided that online ICB bookkeeping courses were the best route to the qualifications she needed to create the kind of working life she desired.

“I wanted to run my own practice, so when I came across Ideal Schools I phoned them up and spoke to Brian, and explained to him what I wanted,” Jane said. “We talked it over and then he quite rightly said that I should go and check out what others have to offer, which I did, but I ended up coming back to Ideal Schools because they were the best fit for what I wanted to do.”

The support from the tutors at Ideal Schools is one of the organisation’s key strengths, she added.

“Brian and his team have been brilliant,” she said. “They don’t put pressure on you, but they encourage you and keep you at it, which is invaluable when you are studying on your own.”

The experience has been so positive that Jane is considering continuing through from bookkeeping into accountancy courses at some point in the future.

“If you had asked me at the beginning of all of this whether I might do that, I would have said definitely no way,” she said. “But my time with Ideal Schools has given me the confidence to go on with it and carry on with my studies.”