How many people can say their workplace is somewhere they actually enjoy hanging out? And how many people are able to combine their hobbies and their career? It seems like the perfect way to live.

So while you're sitting around in the student bar in the dying days of your university career pondering an uncertain future, the thought of running your own pub starts to seem tempting.

Punch Taverns has decided to cash in on this demand, by launching a graduate scheme. It has made 236 pub properties available to graduates under a scheme called Capital Builder. For £5,000, graduates are given the chance to become a landlord, which is a much lower cost than usual.

So is this a great deal, could pub ownership be the answer?

Starting a business is a daunting prospect. But if you want to work for yourself, running an internet enterprise is a good first step as it will keep overheads down.

There won't be any rent for a shopfront and you will find it much easier to run without having to employ full-time staff. And it is also easy to outsource many functions, such as building and maintaining the website and dealing with customer enquiries.

Often these can be done as far away as India, where young, educated people will work for a fraction of what it would cost to have a British person do the same.

S how do you go about it?

1) Write a business plan
Research your market. Ask if your product really fills a hole in the market, or if you need to change direction. Work out how you will address problems such as periods without income, then write your plan. It should tell a story to potential backers and should be 20 pages at most.

Normally, your average nerd is a pretty harmless sort of creature.

They spend hours role-playing on-line, battling orcs, rescuing maidens, speaking elvish and generally doing no damage to the greater population. The highlight of their lives is the release of another Lord of the Rings movie, or even a Harry Potter flick, and they're all in a damp sweat of anticipation about The Hobbit and whether or not it will perfectly dovetail with the fantasies they imagine in their own silly heads.

But then there are the exceptions and that's where we find 31-year-old Kate Madison, who has just spent her life savings making a low budget prequel to the Lord of the Rings trilogy entitled Born of Hope.

Going into business with your partner has got to be the ultimate test for your relationship and your sanity. Long hours, short tempers and high-flying emotions - not the kind of work environment any relationship wants to be exposed to.

So, call me mad, but I'm planning to do just that. It's all very exciting, but also a bit scary too. While we hope it's going to be fun and rewarding, we're prepared for a lot of stress and hard work.

I believe we're a good team though and will work well together, but what should you consider before going into business with your other half?

John Terry, the England football team captain, has a lot on his plate right now, what with his bit of 'how's-your-manager'? with Vanessa Perroncel, ex-girlfriend of his England team-mate Wayne Bridge.

But now an associate of his management company is reportedly offering his Wembley box for £4,000 a pop, which is against the rules.

This could be one more issue for England's manager, Fabio Capello, to bring up.

According to the Daily Mail, as England captain he has a contract to rent a luxury 12-seat box at Wembley subsidised by us poor taxpayers to the tune of £40,000 per year.

The contract stipulates that the box may not be sub-let. But according the Mail, this is precisely what is happening.

The recession and the redundancies it has prompted have caused a surge in the number of people becoming self-employed.

About 2.5m people now work from home, with the trend for home working has increased most dramatically among middle class professionals such as lawyers, financial advisers and marketing managers.

But working for yourself isn't for everyone, so is self-employment right for you?

There are many attractions to becoming self-employed and pretty much any home can now become an office thanks to the availability of broadband.

When you can choose your own working hours, you can get a better work life balance and even cut down on childcare costs if you have a family.

The number of companies using the services of freelance and self-employed workers has also risen during the recession as labour of this kind has fewer overheads for employers.

There are downsides too, though.

Few would disagree that 2009 was a year to forget. The fall-out from the credit crunch caught many people on the hop, and the brutality of corporate cost-cutting left some scars.

It's a luxury afforded to only a few, but if you are in line for a bonus or some other windfall payment in 2010, here are some thoughts on how you could use it to change your life.

Sarah Ferguson has cemented her role as the only member of the Royal Family who really knows how to exploit her status. The Duchess of York, former kids author, Weight Watchers spokeswoman and charity fundraiser, has picked herself up from the collapse of one of her companies and hit on a fantastic new money-making scheme, selling replica family heirlooms.

The plan is to bring out a range for QVC 'including everything from biscuit tins to a desk her great grandmother used to use.' This isn't a rip off of stuff from the Royal Family, but from her side of the family. All of them will feature Sarah's S logo.

There are those who will mock, but hats off to her, she knows what she can sell, she knows her audience and her market, and she has hit the nail firmly on the head. The woman is a national treasure... or at least a national cubic zirconia.

There is no news as to whether she will pitch up on QVC selling her products, but surely this is a no-brainer. It's a solid hit, and with Sarah on screen it will be a guaranteed money-spinner.

All you Royals who dabbled in being professional and are now busy opening garden parties, take note. This is how it is done.

A shock surge in youth unemployment is raising concerns about whether it will create a lost generation.

However, there have been reports that some are solving their problems by starting a business.

So how worried should we be about the record number of youths on the dole?

And are we going to see more Richard Bransons and Anita Roddicks as a result of the recession?

As a freelancer in the media industry, I'm used to doing a little bit of work here and there for free (although it's very rare I do it these days).

But when you start out, it's kind of a given that you'll have to do it to get some experience under your belt. Sometimes it's worthwhile, and on other occasions you'll find you're working yourself into the ground for no good reason.

But now a new regulation is about to change all that. What's going to happen now companies have to pay at least the minimum wage?