I’ve decided to start my own business as a virtual assistant. But when I resigned, my boss offered me a huge pay rise and security to stay with him. Should I stay or should I go?

It’s easy to see why the prospect of doing for your boss what you could be doing for yourself would make a career hero out of any PA. Shelf-stacking, street-sweeping, chicken-plucking . . . they all become enviable options when faced with a load of minutes to transcribe and the demand that you scrape the mayo from his or her sandwiches.

No wonder so many PAs ditch the P for the V. By becoming a virtual assistant means that, via the phone, internet and e-mail, you can act as assistant to as many clients as your business can muster, choosing your hours and working from home without leaving the confines of your pyjamas. Add the freedom of being self-employed and it’s a miracle that more PAs aren’t megalomaniacs.

Yet whether your decision turns to disaster is down to why you’ve made that decision in the first place: being fed up with your job is not enough. If your VA dream really is your dream, the prospect of a new start will give you the elation of waking alongside a chocolate-coated George Clooney. You won’t be able to stop yourself.

So why do you want that career change? Would you be happy if you found extra responsibility, flexibility or career control at another company? Or are you genuinely through with your current career?

Then ask yourself honestly why your boss’s offer of cash ’n’ cuddles gives you the willies. It may be because it’s all you wanted in the first place or because it plays to your fears of making the wrong decision.

Remember that career changes are scary, like finding John McCririck’s Y-fronts in your handbag, so don’t confuse your fear of failure with decision doubts. The former motivates you; the latter is a regret-in-waiting. If you suffer from that, stay where you are. Of course, there is no easy answer. Try this: take that dream off the shelf for a moment, then ask yourself whether you’d be sorry if you put it back. CATH JANES

E-mail your dilemma to creme@thetimes.co.uk

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