Karen Gill and Maxine Benson are founders of everywoman.co.uk - a website dedicted to female business owners. Read their weekly blog here.

As the season turns and the nights draw in it's hardly surprising to hear that many people dread going into work, but what's more depressing, according to a recent survey, is that nearly two million people fear going to work due to not getting on with their colleagues. Luckily we don't have that problem here at everywoman and we thank our lucky stars that we are surrounded by warm hearted and inspiring colleagues.

Considering the long-hour culture in the UK and the fact we will spend nearly 20 years of our lives at work, it's really important to make the most of your time at work. We come across hundreds of everywoman members every month who have left the corporate world to start up their own businesses and it is very rare that they ever regret this decision. Although their motivations for going it alone vary, most feel empowered that they are able to choose the environment in which they work.

Wendy Shand founded holiday rental organisation Tots to Travel, having enjoyed careers in marketing and PR, and teaching. She has reaped the benefits of running a company that allows her the flexibility to balance her career and family responsibilities and, most importantly, she gets to choose who she works with.

There are significantly less female entrepreneurs than men and yet working for yourself offers many benefits, one of which is more choice regarding your working environment and if more women followed their business dreams, we might not see so many experiencing such anxiety when getting out bed every morning. So if you're not happy at work, why not explore the option of joining the growing number of women setting up their own ventures - join us and over 300 other women in business at the National everywoman Conference on 19th November.