It is true that there is a fine line between entrepreneurship and insanity. Crazy people see and feel things that others don't. But you have to believe that everything is possible. If you believe it, those around you will believe it too.

I think the leadership of a company should encourage the next generation not just to follow, but to overtake.

To succeed you have to believe in something with such a passion that it becomes a reality.

The money that we make from the company goes into The Body Shop Foundation, which isn't one of those awful tax shelters like some in America. It just functions to take the money and give it away.

Business is not financial science, it's about trading.. buying and selling. It's about creating a product or service so good that people will pay for it.

One of the most intriguing things in management and in business is the role of storytelling - people need the anecdotes to do the work that they do.

I started The Body Shop in 1976 simply to create a livelihood for myself and my two daughters, while my husband, Gordon, was trekking across the Americas. I had no training or experience and my only business acumen was Gordon's advice to take sales of £300 a week. Nobody talks of entrepreneurship as survival, but that's exactly what it is and what nurtures creative thinking.