CLAIRE BAYLISS is the managing director of prepaid card provider Indigo Solutions, and has previously headed the marketing operations of Matalan and Alliance and Leicester Commercial Bank.

The St Helens-based firm offers travel cards which make taking money abroad much safer and easier. This is her working day:

6.45am: The alarm goes off. Depending on whether we have my stepson, Ethan, staying determines whether I find time for a run before I start my working day. Will try to get to the gym later instead.

8am: In the office and online. Running your own business is a 24/7 job, so I rarely have a backlog of emails to clear as I will pick them up off my Blackberry if I’m not in front of my computer. I am often swapping emails with my business partner, Tracey Lowe, at 4am.

9am: One of our products, Indigo Travelcard, is a prepaid Visa debit card available in euros or dollars. Every morning at this time I approve our exchange rates that are set for the day so we can meet our price promise of offering a better deal on currency than anywhere on the high street. Hold a team meeting, which we do at the start and end of each week, although we don’t have meetings for the sake of it. During my 16 years working for some large corporates, you realise just how much of your day is wasted in meetings where often few decisions are actually ever made.

9.30am: I have a couple of meetings in Sheffield, the first starts at 12pm, so I am in the car to ensure I am not late. Most days are filled with either client meetings or sales appointments. We have clients all over the country so I spend a lot of time in the car. This time gives you the opportunity to think, which is not always easy to find this time. When in the car, I usually listen to Talk Sport (I am a massive Liverpool fan) or one of my CDs – Take That’s new CD is currently favourite.

Noon: Lunch meeting at the Copthorne Hotel with a client to discuss a travel loyalty card that they want Indigo to develop. This is followed by a meeting with one of the football clubs in Sheffield – we offer football clubs branded travel cards for their fans to use while travelling abroad. Sheffield United own several clubs worldwide and have asked Indigo to develop an affinity card programme for one of their European clubs. Throughout the day, I will pick up calls from clients and the team. The operation is run to perfection by Tracey, so I don’t normally get involved with any operational issues unless necessary.

6pm: I arrive back in the office. I always check with our customer care team to see the sort of queries they have had from our customers that day. Thankfully, we have very few complaints, occasionally we may have a customer using their card in Africa or the Far East and have had a problem using a specific ATM. Whenever I get the chance, I will speak with customers – you just can’t beat that direct feedback.

7pm: I book myself onto a spin class at the gym, which is a killer, especially as I’m tired. However, it allows me that glass of wine for when I eventually get home.

8.30pm: We sit down to dinner, I’m very lucky as my husband does all the cooking in our house. I then spend another hour or so reviewing strategic papers or doing some research online of potential customers, new products and industry news.

11pm: Bed is normally around 11, where I take the chance to catch up on that night’s Coronation Street.