If young people do see me as an example (I'm very flattered if they do!) I hope it is as someone who will go out there and live life to the full.

I've had to create companies that I believe in 100%. These are companies I feel will make a genuine difference. Then I have to be willing to find the time myself to talk about them, promote them and market them. I don't want to spend my life doing something that I'm not proud of.

In business, as in life, all that matters is that you do something positive.

My interest in life comes from setting myself huge, apparently unachievable challenges and trying to rise above them.

Growth does not always lead a business to build on success. All too often it converts a highly successful business into a mediocre large business.

Do not be embarrassed by your failures, learn from them and start again.

As much as you need a strong personality to build a business from scratch, you also must understand the art of delegation. I have to be good at helping people run the individual businesses, and I have to be willing to step back. The company must be set up so it can continue without me.