Having a good network can be invaluable. It opens doors for you and allows you to enter into opportunities that are beneficial to your business. In this sense, 'who you know' is undoubtedly important, but to me 'what you know' is more important because once an opportunity shows itself, it is up to you to make the most of it, and this is down to your knowledge and skill.

Chance favors the prepared mind. The more you practice, the luckier you become.

Have fun do good and the money will come

When you are ready to make your first hires, look for people who understand your passion, want to add to your ideas and can envision ways to make improvements.

As much as you need a strong personality to build a business from scratch, you also must understand the art of delegation.

You can create a business, choose a name, but unless people know about it you're not going to sell any products.

Good people have always been at the heart of the Virgin business, and that's largely because we have tried to keep our business small, and our management teams tight-knit. I feel that small, compact companies, are better run. That is partly because people feel more connected in small companies.