I'd rather be rich and miserable than poor and miserable.
Theo Paphitis
I don't really sleep until gone midnight anyway. It takes me a while to calm down before my mind allows me to switch off.
I can walk all day in malls, shopping centres, high streets - I love it.
Great customer service does not come by chance. It is the result of training and ensuring there are enough assistants to serve the customers.
The great virtue of the web, its ease of communication, has also become its Achilles' heel in that it has polluted the air with meaningless babble and egomaniacal drivel.
Entrepreneurship is just one thing that needs to be in schools.
I cringe when I watch myself on camera. I'm not articulate, and I'm dyslexic, but somehow it works.
The more we learn about dyslexia, the more able we will be to help those with it.
Entrepreneurship can be taught to people with average academic abilities - the proof of that is everywhere you look.
My family's challenges meant we lived hand to mouth. There were weeks when we had neither electricity nor heating.
I was lucky enough to find my passion early - in retail - and I have done well but, most importantly, loved doing it.
When I went to school, most parents wanted their children to get good A-levels, to go to university, and get a degree so your children had a better life than you. The way out of poverty was through a degree. But the whole world has moved on from that.
A lot of multinationals have long, drawn-out processes and are pretty useless at putting products on the shelves quickly.
On Saturday, I don't want to be woken up until at least nine: I like a bit of a lie-in, a cup of tea, toast and marmalade, and the newspaper.
A small business can survive for a while without making a profit, but if its cashflow dries up, the impact is fatal.
If you cannot bore your friends to death about your own small business, then something is seriously wrong.
Stack the cards in your favour, and in a casino, you'll get arrested and put in prison, but in business and in life, it's the right thing to do.
Business isn't complicated; we complicate business.
Immigration has been good for this country; I know the value of it - hopefully I've given something back.
In my early teens, I was working in a Wimpy Bar and delivering cab company cards to make cash. I also ran a tuck shop at school. I struggled academically because of being dyslexic. When I saw other families and what they had, it inspired me. I thought, 'I can get that, too, if I work hard.'
Small does not mean insignificant.
It's called common sense, but it's not common. Most people don't have it.
If the cash runs out, it's like a heart attack for you and your business. Keep that front and centre of your mind, and you will have financial security and not be struggling to pay the bills.
I try to support local traders. The service makes up for any extra cost.
Save money; never rely on other people to lend you money. We call it having 'walking the streets' money - money in your back pocket or bank account that belongs to you.
The government must recognise that taxing retailers differently is reckless.
The reality in business and in 'Dragons' Den' is you win some, and you lose some.
The decisions you make when you leave school define the rest of your life. So, in terms of making the right choices for your financial security as you get older, my best advice is to do something you have an interest in and are passionate about, as you'll be working for a long time.
No major technological change has ever been instituted by mankind without an array of negative consequences. The motor car has meant liberation for millions, but it has also caused congestion, environmental damage, and a disturbing death toll on the roads.
My whole business philosophy is based on a risk-reward ratio. But it's got to stack up. If it doesn't, don't do it. You might as well go to a casino.
What's crucial in a High Street store is a compelling reason for people to shop there. Shops must offer excellent customer service - and 'theatre' is a must.
Good businesses will survive good times and bad times.
The statistics for investing in small businesses are such that the vast majority fail.
Businesses might have been helped by the ability to promote themselves on the Internet, but they have also been hit by the web's encouragement of time-wasting by their staff.
We survived for hundreds of years under the old banking structure. You'd have clearing banks, then merchant banks doing the racy stuff, and then building societies where you'd join a waiting list for a mortgage. But then banks started buying stockbrokers, doing mortgages, and you ended up with these big banking groups doing everything.
The high streets I remember best were Seven Sisters Road in north London and then sunny Peckham in south London after we moved there. They were where my parents used to shop. They were great, part of being a teenager.
I love the English language, but I'm crap at it, so I might as well do what I'm good at. The same goes for my kids, who are also dyslexic. I won't pressure them to do anything. They've each got a trust and a mortgage-free property, which is a lot more than I had, so I know they will always be fine.
My family come from Cyprus. Both my father and my grandfather worked on the British bases there, and as the British government granted independence to Cyprus, they granted British passports to those who worked with them.
When we arrived in the U.K. on the banana boat, we settled right by Old Trafford.
I know I have been lucky in business, and I am keen now to spread goodwill to others, of course not forgetting that very often, you make your own luck by making use of every opportunity.
I'm an avid sailor, and my first time exploring the Dalmatian Coast and the Croatian islands was very special.
Online is not contributing in the same way as the high street in terms of business rates and to the local community.
The Internet has heralded a revolution in our society. It has transformed the way we do business, entertain, communicate, and travel. In many ways, the change has been positive. The web has brought new freedoms, spurred economic growth, and extended the boundaries of knowledge.
Ultimately, if you don't have an interest in what you do, it will be so much harder to make money from it.
I admire people who have passion and energy.
My vision is that everyone who has ever won an #SBS retweet from me becomes part of a friendly club. Like-minded individuals can share successes and learn.
I was absolutely astonished and could not believe my eyes at the outrageous interest rates that people in need have to pay to get loans.
I am for a transactional tax at the point of purchase for both online and physical retail.
There are huge misconceptions about people on benefits. They are labelled scroungers or cheats. The reality is that many who need that level of support are working, but their income is not enough to get out of debt or pay for basics like food and household bills. It's so close to the way I grew up.
My parents divorced, my brothers and I ended up living with my mother, and we were living with the choice of heating or eating. My mum was working, but she needed financial support to make ends meet. I had to have free school dinners and free school uniforms.
