At the start of a business I do not know if I have the wherewithal to do it, sustain it, make a success of it I only know that I want to be in this particular business, on this scale, on these terms, and I must either find the wherewithal to do it the way I have envisaged it or drop the idea. There can be no halfway measures, no small solutions or compromises for me. Begin with a compromise and you'll be compromising right along, is what I say.

I try not to pay too much attention to what people think or say. It's not entirely true that they don't affect me or shake my confidence and, of course, as I said before, everybody has an opinion, and not always based on hearsay. Some of them are really concerned and you have to respect those, give them a hearing. Well, I'm always willing to listen to reason, but when I or anybody else makes a business decision it is reasonable to suppose it has been thorough. That's a must for an entrepreneur — unshakable faith in oneself. Or as my wife points out, it's unbearable self-confidence! No seriously, when I'm convinced of the feasibility, the possibilities in a project, I know it will be a success. Call it intuition or conviction, or thinking positively, whatever.

Probably it is because I strongly believe there's little chance of failure when I eke out as much of myself as I do into a project. Effort, commitment and focus in the right direction have to pay off. I have a strong and continuing sense of commitment and a willingness to learn. That's important. In any job, in any situation there has to be this open-ended education programme. Unlike mathematics, business theory and practise, management, none of all this is finite. If I can convey all this to the people who work with me, fuel their energy with mine, I believe we have little to worry about. And finally, if I can afford not to, I do not waste time and emotion on regrets.