Article by ICG member Lian Mico – Founder & CEO, Pentalian
In many ways – like when planning for human babies – planning business babies doesn’t always go the way you thought. You have it in your mind for some time when would be a good time to start trying for this (business) baby, saving financially for it, a good time to stop having a guaranteed full time income and generally you plan for the arrival of one (business) baby… as was my intention.
For many years now, I’ve been toying with the idea of setting up my own research practice – I’ve known from a young age I wanted my own business, though like many people ending up in market research was somewhat of a happy accident (in drafting this I didn’t even mean for that pregnancy pun – it just fell out of my brain!). It took me over 15 years in the industry to finally feel like I had the experience and knowledge required in our field to do it, as well as the financial means.
The money I had to setup the business is modest – it will cover me for a few months at most – but, as I’ve been told for planning a child(ren), if you wait until you feel you’ve got enough money, you’ll never do it. And so, last November I made the decision to quit “working for the man” and prepare to go it alone (once my three months’ notice period was up of course).
This meant a lot of prep – getting access to / accreditation from various relevant business organisations, from the ICG, to the FCB, to the MRS (so many acronyms!). It meant deciding on a company name, branding, ethos and website. It meant months of anxiety knowing I couldn’t legally contact any current clients for 6 months after I left the business, and couldn’t begin contacting prospects at all really until I left my current position. It meant sorting an accountant, setting up my Limited company, preparing templates, a ‘Nice to meet you’ deck and so much more. Plus, the day job was popping off (don’t we all love that annual pre-Christmas rush), so it was a busy time!
But, over Christmas my husband spotted a local bar business for sale. Getting into hospitality is something we’ve always had an interest in, and we know this local bar well – it’s right up our street and the asking price was reasonable. And so, over a beer (where most great business ideas and decisions are made) during the Christmas break, we decided to go for it. Before our pint was finished, the loan money was in my partner’s account, and we went for a more detailed look around the bar the next day and signed a conditional agreement to buy the bar just as the new year came around.
As with parental planning, we had a chat about how our business babies would work in practice. My research business is still my main baby – it’s what (we hope) will pay our mortgage, and we discussed how I will need the time and space to make it work… marketing, networking, financials, and so on as well as doing the work when it’s won. I agreed to help with the bar baby (I was a big advocate of its conception) though said my husband would have to put more of his time into that, and that my time would become progressively less invested.
And so, then all the bar prep came in a flurry (luckily most of my research business setup was done, and I just had 6 weeks left of the day job to go). So whilst my husband was doing deep cleans, personal licence exams and many hours of cocktail research, I carried on with my day job, my (thankfully dwindling) to-do list for my business setup and ultimately also supported the bar business, more so on the staff and socials side, as well as getting up to speed myself on cocktail making (I’m a dab hand now!).
The bar baby was born first – Pink Rhino – we got the keys on the 1st Feb and had our opening night on the 6th (which I worked, after a full day of market research). Then the research baby come soon after – my last day at my previous company was 10th Feb (including a debrief that finished at 5pm – ouch!), and I already had work to do under my new business – Pentalian – on Feb 11th.
And so, February was a very interesting month; a massive life shift and a steep learning curve, with lots of adapting including some sleepless nights / adapting to new bedtime schedules. Whilst I know (from speaking to new parents, not my own experience) this is not actually anywhere near as tiring and trying as having a new baby – you can hopefully see why I draw the comparison. In fact, for many people when telling them about either new business I often couldn’t get to the end of the phrase “We have some exciting news…” out of my mouth quick enough – being a woman of a certain age who is already married, most people expect the human, rather than business, baby news.
Some days, I’m being a researcher and it might look a little something like this
Some days, I’m being a bar tender and instead it looks like this
And some days – because I’m a twin business owner – there are days when I hybrid work, doing research in the bar (for example when we have deliveries or workmen in) and it looks a little more like this
So, how has the business setup compared for each?
Pentalian – research agency
- Longer time to setup
- A longer contingency time, with some “wages” set aside
- I know I am really good at this (though of course imposter syndrome hits everyone at some point – like 3am on a Wednesday)
- I have lots of supporting allies in the industry already (and am blown away about how willing people are to share their knowledge and time with me)
- …And lots of freelancing friends I know I can call upon as/when the work requires who are top quality researchers
- Anxiety focussed on getting clients to even speak to me/consider my business for briefs (I’m a researcher, not a saleswoman) and of course wondering if/when I will be able to pay my wages (and mortgage)
- It can sometimes feel very intangible and timelines are longer; it takes time to win projects, build a prospect list and then maintain and grow a client base
- Main social platform is LinkedIn, with focus on building my personal and business profile – though I’d like to further strengthen my marketing strategy and am planning some offline/non-social media approaches to attract prospects
Pink Rhino – cocktail bar
- Lots of setup done in a short time
- No contingency time – the bills must be paid (lease, staff wages, energy, stock, etc.) and we knew we would open the next weekend, almost as if no change in ownership had occurred / “business as usual” (with a DJ and everything!)
- We know what makes a good drink, but with little hands-on experience we didn’t know if we’d be good enough
- No allies in the industry
- Didn’t know the staff, hadn’t trained them ourselves and had no idea how good they were
- Anxiety focussed on getting enough people into the bar and buying drinks to meet the bills in the first month (and of course all the months after) and making sure we don’t do anything illegal (!) – aiming to breakeven, not pay ourselves a wage, and just make it through financially, whilst simultaneously providing a top quality experience for customers
- It’s a very physical, tangible thing; we know when we’re open each week, who’s working, and we see our clients walk through the door and the service we provide is instant – we have some regulars who’ve stuck with us, and people totally new to the bar who have only discovered it since we took over
- Main social platform is Facebook, and a little bit of Instagram – though we’d like to get some printed marketing materials and are already starting to get better looped in with local business an event groups to further strengthen our local presence
Conclusively, I’d definitely recommend setting up either – or both – of these types of businesses. I’ve never felt so excited, gratified and proud of myself since being a child… albeit very tired (!). But it’s also worth noting, before we even considered the bar and I decided to go out on my own in the research field me and my husband had a chat about “if the worst should happen” and I want to be frank the answer was “I make no money, we can’t pay our bills and we lose the house” and that was the risk we were jointly willing to take.
Neither of us come from money, neither of us got any external investment (and never will – it’s not in our game plan to become puppets to external forces… that’s an article for a different day!), our savings are ok at best and we have put a lot on the line to follow our business dreams this year – but we’re at a unique cross roads in having “just enough”… Enough life experience to trust ourselves; enough financial experience that the banks want to give us money (this one still bewilders me – I think we’re considered “real adults” now); enough support around us that we know losing our house wouldn’t mean being homeless (for us and our family); enough determination/work-ethic (and willingness to be tired) to push ourselves hard physically and mentally; and enough courage to go for it.
Setting up a business isn’t right for many people for many reasons – I’m having to work on current research projects, whilst trying to find more potential clients, whilst working in a bar at the weekend, whilst I work out how I pay my monthly bills now as well as how I might be able to afford my own (and hopefully other people’s) mat leave in years to come, whilst also managing all of life’s normal stuff (bills, chores, step children, elderly dog, friends, family, home improvements) – the list goes on… and this isn’t realistic for everyone. Even the kids being a few years younger would have made this impossible.
But I’m really glad to be in the privileged position I am today to “be my own boss” and really give this “new way of life” a go.
I worried the business balance would be tricky the first few weeks, but setting my own working schedules has meant a much less stressful approach to managing research projects (and wider business admin) where I can tweak my sleep schedule and working patterns to suit my energy levels and have even found more time to cook healthy meals too! So, despite working in and co-managing a bar, I have never felt more effective (and healthy) in my role as a researcher than I have these last few weeks.
Funnily enough, this article is aimed at the research world – but most researchers I speak to about the two businesses are, possibly unsurprisingly, most excited about the bar. And whilst it is exciting – a real “pinch me” moment! – my baby is Pentalian and it still needs a lot of love and nurture to grown into a successful, lasting business and so it’s where the majority of my energy and love lies. So whilst I encourage you to pop into the Pink Rhino for a cocktail if you’re passing by the cute market town of Ramsbottom (~ between Manchester and Blackburn) for the best value cocktails around (and I truly mean that) – I encourage you most of all as allies, potential research buyers, friends/colleagues of people who may be in the market for research services… to help me get the word out there about Pentalian. It’s a research company founded on strong principles and with bold ambitions, but that first foot in the door is much more difficult in this industry than it is in a cocktail bar (where there is a literal door!) and every recommendation, word of mouth recommendation, and so on makes a difference.
In return I offer you, dear reader, an open door of my own – firstly a research door – I am happy to chat to anyone from any walk of life, not only about their potential research needs (though I’d of course love to help with those!), but also anything you may want to know about a career in market research or qualitative research specifically, business setup advice, training needs you might have, research process problems and solutions… literally nothing is off the cards. I want to be a part of a thriving industry, and we do that by lifting up and supporting each other. And secondly, (the one I know a few cheeky readers will have been hoping for the most) a cocktail bar door – show this article in The Pink Rhino Rammy to receive your first drink half price, or reach out to me directly if you want to talk bar-business.
If you’re reading this as someone about to commence your own business baby(ies) – then I wish you good luck and invite you to collaborate/reach out for support.
Lian Mico – Founder & CEO, Pentalian
March 2026