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'I will not turn down a client who does not have a disposable income'

As she is with St James’s Place she said there is a community of people who have been in the same boat to call on when you need help. 

She added: “Nobody is successful overnight, so just be patient, carry on because if you know what you want and what your business values are you will succeed.”

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What are the best bits of having your own firm?

Malikzada said the flexibility of the career is a key reason she was drawn to it. 

“It has given me the flexibility I could only dream of,” she said. 

“I'm building my own business. I'm doing it on my own terms in my own time.”

She said this flexibility allows her to work around her children and she is able to drop them off at school and finish working once she picks them up. 

“I love what I do so I don't think I'll ever fully retire,” she added. “When I do build my practice, and I've got other women working for me, I will just be in the shadows watching my business grow and helping these women do what I do."

Overall, she said the rewards of helping people get their finances in order is what she loves about the job. 

“I see the fear in some of my clients' faces, when they come see me because they feel a bit of guilt that they've left it so late or a bit of guilt that their finances are not in the right shape,” she said. 

“I can have those conversations to help them, it is very rewarding. I am not a teacher, I can’t work with kids so for me this would be the next most rewarding thing that I could do.”

If you own your own advice firm and would like to feature in the Coffee Corner interview series, get in touch at tara.o’connor@ft.com