Supply and demand is something Mohammed Rafaqat is tuned into.

The 28-year-old entrepreneur from Bradford was never out of work during his two and a half years spent supply teaching, giving him an enterprising idea.

With a little help from Enterprise Island - a private company designing and delivering programmes and offering help and support to create more entrepreneurs - Mohammed has since set up his own teaching agency.

Principal Education Services Ltd was launched last September and is based within Bradford University's Think Business, an incubation unit for entrepreneurs.

Mohammed says his role is to allocate temporary teachers to schools via his agency and provide teaching assistance such as classroom management.

Since launching the business he already has 30 clients on his books and is confident more will follow to meet the increasing demand.

According to Mohammed, stress, maternity cover and staff training are the main causes for temporary cover.

"The workload and classroom management is probably the biggest issue, which is my strongest point," says Mohammed, who gained experience in classroom management during his teaching years.

Studying A-level sociology sparked Mohammed's interest in people, which he pursued through his first degree in social psychology.

"It was an interesting topic and I wanted to learn more about it. I'd done A-level sociology and found that interesting and wanted to do something along those lines, studying people and how they develop."

During a year out he became a learning mentor in local schools and decided teaching was the route he wanted to take.

"I enjoyed working in a school environment," says Mohammed.

He undertook his postgraduate certificate in Information Communications Technology, enabling him to teach in secondary schools.

His last placement, at Bradford's Challenge College, was his first permanent teaching post before working as a supply teacher at schools throughout Bradford and Leeds.

"Working every single day in the supply industry for two and a half years on a supply basis, I realised there was a big demand," he says.

Having classroom management skills, Mohammed realised if he could develop and train staff, he could pass on their expertise to others - so he launched his own agency.

"I'd undertaken a few business courses in the past and I know enough about teaching and how supply teaching works," says Mohammed.

He's also conscious of what is a highly competitive market but believes having first-hand experience gives him an advantage.

His advice to potential teachers looking at following him into the profession or those looking to set up their own business is to just go for it.

"In terms of teaching, I would say it's hard work but it's rewarding and I would advise you to go into a few schools on a voluntary basis and do some observations first. But it's definitely rewarding.

"Again, with setting up a business, it's hard work, definitely, and the biggest thing is the risk element. But if you're in the position to take the step and you are confident enough with your idea, I would recommend it."

For more information about teaching courses contact Bradford College on (01274) 433333. For further details about supply teaching call (01274) 235231.