I wanted to be an editor or a journalist, I wasn't really interested in being an entrepreneur, but I soon found I had to become an entrepreneur in order to keep my magazine going.

I have always lived my life by thriving on opportunity and adventure. Some of the best ideas come out of the blue, and you have to keep an open mind to see their virtue.

Seek out strategic alliances; they are essential to growth and provide resistance to bigger competition.

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.

Conflicts often stem from a couple of leaders on both sides that are badly brought up. They'd rather go to war than compromise. And in business, you're competing with other companies all the time, but you don't end up going to war with each other.

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

You shouldn’t blindly accept a leader’s advice. You’ve got to question leaders on occasion.