It is a huge step to give up a steady job and launch your own business, especially in the run-up to a recession. But if you ask Salim Benadel about his experience of setting up an Internet company, he would answer: "What recession?"

He said: "I have never regretted leaving my job. People said: 'What are you doing, setting up your own business, particularly at a time like this?' But for the Internet, we are in the middle of a boom.

"We all know about the dotcom boom and what happened then. But now the Internet is more important as it allows you to save on costs. Small and medium-sized businesses are beginnning to turn to technology to help them through."

Admittedly, before he took the plunge last June, Mr Benadel, 32, (pictured) had been moonlighting while working full-time for CABI, formerly the Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux International, in Wallingford.

He had started as a Rover Group trainee, working for Rover's IT contractor, AT&T, in Cowley, where he grew up.

"I wasn't interested in university — I wanted to get out there and make a difference. It was a useful experience and it shaped where I am now," he said.

He moved to CABI in 2000, having branched out into web design for Rover, and spent more than seven years helping to transfer CABI's publishing operation online.

Mr Benadel said: "I have always been interested in how you can improve things and make it easier for people.

"Storm Internet started as a hobby, really. People wanted web-hosting, and I did it in my spare time for a bit of extra money. It was linked to what I did at work.

“Then it occurred to me that I would make more money by offering web-hosting on a freelance basis."

Storm Internet has just one other staff member — Lynsey Sterrey, a former CABI colleague of Mr Benadel's — and they bring in other former colleagues and industry contacts to help out at busy times.

"At the moment, it makes sense for us, as a small business starting up, to use freelances, but as the business grows we will bring in more people to keep up with the demand," said Mr Benadel.

As a start-up owner, he is sympathetic to the need of small companies to keep a close eye on costs.

"You can run a very good service quite cheaply, because a lot of it is automated. Once things are up and running, you can just leave them.

"It's an example of how you can grow a business, even when people are not spending money, if you manage your costs right. You don't need to splash out employing lots of staff, for instance."

Storm Internet's extended 24-hour support is supplied by a specialist company, and it buys in all its servers from data centres.

"We offer initial support if something goes wrong, and we can supply 24/7 support to our customers at a good price," he said.

The increase in IT networking, with more systems on the Internet, has led many companies to migrate to web servers, he said.

"Companies' communication needs have grown. E-mail is now a vital business service, and we are expanding out of web-hosting into general business services. We employ people with design ideas and entrepreneurial flair.

"We want to sell a whole solution. We like to understand the problem and build a solution that will fix it.

"We have one group of customers who just need a website, and a second group who have their own IT staff and want to configure a server. The third group are non-IT literate business people, solicitors for example, who need reliable e-mail, and say: 'If a server blows up we need it put right straight away'.

“It's obviously cheaper to have just one server, but if that goes down, it takes time to put it right, whereas if you have two, you are covered. Some people think it's essential not to have downtime."

Until now, all Storm Internet's customers have come by word-of-mouth recommendation or web searches, and it has done no advertising.

Mr Benadel said: "With this service, people don't want to keep moving around. If you look after people, and treat them well, they stay with you, and recommend you to their friends."

The company has just moved into its own offices at Wharf Farm, Cassington, with room for more employees as the business grows.

And Mr Benadel has ambitious plans for how things will work.

"We don't have too many employees now, but my view is if you treat people well they will respond. I have been a manager and I found that if you look after people, they will enjoy their job more. I want to create a place where people will want to come.

"It is lovely countryside here, and a creative atmosphere is important. It relaxes the mind. People work better when they are not stressed or forced."

He hasn't yet got desks or computers for his future staff, but he has installed beanbags and a television in his 'relaxed workplace'.

Already, turnover has doubled in the last year to £100,000, and Storm Internet is expanding into new industries as it wins more customers.

Mr Benadel said: "There are many small companies that haven't yet embraced the Internet, and they are still looking at how they can improve their business by going online. People realise that they can save money by using the Internet.

"A lot of people would say that it's a difficult time to leave your stable job, but we are growing."

Name: Storm Internet Established: 2004 Owner: Salim Benadel Number of staff: Two, plus freelances Annual turnover: £100,000

Contact: 0844 736 6171 Web: www.storminternet.co.uk