SKY IS THE LIMIT...

'People buy from people' is a sales mantra that really means products are only half the battle. When it comes to selling a product, the person selling the product or the vision they create about that product is just as key.

Personality is critical, and so are first impressions. As an investor, you want to surround yourself and work with people that you believe you can get on with. Having say that, I'm not saying that I always invest in people who I like - there are some fantastic ideas I have seen from people I don't instantly warm to. If I think I can find a way to get on with an individual, I will still invest. I'm not looking for a new friend; I am looking for a great business idea. There are people in my businesses who I wouln't choose to go out for a drink with, but they do very well for the company.

However, if a person has a great idea but I know I definitely can't work with them, I'd rather walk away. Personality, passion and first impressions count for a lot when prising investmentfrom a tycoon.

Tycoon tip: investors invest as much in a person as in an idea. If you can really demonstrate your passion and commitment, then you are already halfway there.

'I've always been someone who does what they want to do. I've been able to make my own choices frrom an early age. I always loved sport at school through, especially tennis. I never liked being second-best, so when I was playing tennis, I was competitive. if I lost points or games, I'd end up chucking my racket on the ground. I always thought I'd get to Wimbledon, and I wanted to be the world's best tennis player.

I'd spend every spare minute hitting a ball against the house wall pretending I was at Wimbledon. My mum had to put her earplugs in. I went back to state school and then, from the age of 11 until I was eighteen, I played tennis seven days a week. I played UK competitions all over the country. Even though I knew tennis was just a game, I still really wanted to win.

Tennis is an intelligent game. in many ways tennis is similar to business. The skills I learned playing it have helped my career. In tennis you've got to work out your tactics, understand your playing partner and size up their game. It's important to have confidence from the moment you walk onto the court. There is however a key difference between tennis and success at work. Business is not about winning at all costs. At work you need to find ways where you both benefit. It's not like tennis where the winner takes all. I don't want to do a deal with somebody and walk out thinking, 'Ah, got them'. That's not how I work. Being  successful is about teamwork and working together towards a shared goal. At work I want my colleagues to be happy, and for me to feel exactly the same. In tennis the last thing I want to do is walk off a court when somebody else has won the match. i'm out there to win. In business I want both of us to win.

My first company built computer systems and provided computer support. It did well during the 1980s, but I lost sight of the most important part of running a company. I got carried away with with my own success, thinking it was easy, without seeing the risks. I was supplyings goods to customers on credit without making sure they could pay. At some point there was going to be a problem... and there was! For a while, I hoped to save my company. I think it took 24 hours to realise that I couldn't. I was 29 and I had lost everything. I had nowhere to live, so I moved into the office building where I started and thought about how I could start again. I was thinking, 'Well, I've got myself into this, so I'm going to get out of it. It's as simple as that. I've lost my BMW, my Porsche and my house. I've lost everithing. Well, it's not the end of the world.' Very few people have a smooth ride getting to the top. Often the most succcesfull people are those who have lost a job or a business, and have learned from their mistakes. 

The main lesson from the collapse of my company was that I had got too caried away with making sales and had not looked at the bigger picture. Once I'd learned that lesson I never made the same mistake again. After that I always made sure that I had insurance to protect my business. Even successful people make mistakes. That's how we learn. The important thing is to pick yourself up and not make the same misatkes again.

In 1998 I started a telephone company. It was clear to me that everybody was soon going to be walking around with a mobile phone. I worked with a factory and bought a large number of phones to supply to smaller businesses who couldn't afford to buy them in large numbers. I knew mobile phones would make me wealthy, but I had no idea they would make me tens of millions.

There were a lot of similar businesses starting then, but what we did was different. Nobody else had decided to supply just one type of phone and build a name based on one product. So I formed a good relationship with the makers of the phone and we became the only company to supply that phone. That way we could buy a lot more phones, which meant we could both buy and sell them more cheaply. as a result, we became one of the fastest growing businesses in europe. Was I lucky? I don't think so. I saw an opportunity made a plan, and worked very hard. That made me successful. Having a clear idea of what you want to achieve and believing in yourself are some of the most imporatnt assets in life. 

getting the right people wasn't easy because at that stage we were just a small company. We wanted local people, so we looked around and talked to people with energy and drive. i always knew having good people was going to be key to our success. Good people doesn't just mean efficient people. It means people who have a great attitude and who will put everything they've got into the company. Finding and working with great people has always been, and still is, a big part of my success.

Here are ome of my tips for success:

1. Enjoy your work
Personally, I'm not interested in putting money into a business and just letting it go. I am not a gambler. I don't throw my money around. When I'm in the dragons' Den I ask myself 'Does it grab me?' Then, finally, 'Can Peter Jones make a difference?' Because, if I can't offer something new to a project I am involved with, what's the point?

2. Think about it
Think carefully about whether your goals are really possible. Think everything through. This is my key piece of advice: do your research. Look into what money is available and start thinking about your budget. In other words, dream big, but do your homework. You need to know that you can turn dreams into reality. This takes research, groundwork and realistic figures.

3. Look out for big ideas
Work out the upside, how big an idea is. Ask the question: How successful could this be? I like to know how big the market for the product or service could be. Is it international? When I know the scale, I can then assess how much profit it could deliver and how much money I could take.

4. Be passionate and persistent
Once I have invested in a business, or started it, I'm passionate about making it work. You need to keep that passion to help you commit to getting things done.

5. Develop your instinct
I am not academic. I struggled at school. But that doesn't matter. To succeed in business you need a nose for a good opportunity. Often you have to let your gut feeling guide you.

6. Presentation is all-important
How you look, how you speak, and how clearly you can explain your product all contribute to how seriously you will be taken.

7. Know what you want to achieve and focus on results
Imran Hakim is a good example of a businessman who knows what he wants to achieve. He saw that 'kids are getting older, younger,' and that they want the same kind of technology their older brothers and sisters have. So Imran came up with the idea of a soft toy with a screen in its belly. He believed that his iTeddy would be the next bestselling toy at Christmas. He gave us figures that he thought he could achieve, told us who he thought he could sell it to, and who would buy it. He told us why people would want it. He gave us an example of why iTeddy would be succesful, because it would be based around cartoon or bedtime stories downloaded directly to the teddy. People would come back to buy more. For me it was a great idea and I couldn't wait to do the deal. I liked the amount of energy Imran had put into understanding his product and what h wanted to achieve.

8. Timing is all-important

9. You need drive and confidence to succeed

I knew I was going to be a businessman from a very early age. With telephones sales, you have to be able to cope with rejection and develop your own style, your own personality and confidence. I quickly got the hang of this and it soon became second nature to me.

I went on to work for three recruitment agencies. I did this to get experience of different businesses. One day, a client, a financial services company, was recruiting sales people. The sales director was impressed with the way I'd understood their requirements. He took me out to lunch and offered me a job as recruitment manager of his company.

Where there's a will, there's a way.

I was 24 when I started my first comapny, Alexandwer Mann. the name was my own invention. Indeed I did everything myself. The idea behind Alexander Mann was to find staff for middle management jobs by headhunting. It was a great success because I found a gap in the market, took a simple idea and then really promoted and developed it. Building a company is like watching a  child grow.

One week-end I went to the house of one of my sisters and she gave me samosas. I suggested that she make some and sell the. 'What have you got to lose?' I asked her. So that Sunday she made 250 samosas, and by noon on Monday she had sold them all. Less than a month later she told me that she was making 1,000 and that they were sold as soon as they were ready. Seeing the potential, I put up the money for her to develop the business with aproper space and the right machinery. Now the business is called Nisa, and she makes 50,000 samosas a week. It just can't meet demand! It's great!

I think taking risks is a big part of being successful. He who dares, wins. You may think like me, or you may not. Everyone is different. But I do have some rules, or tips, that I believe can help people achieve the success they want:

1. Belief
I believe that, if you have determination, if you're pasionate, then you can make something work. Attitude is the key.
 
2. People, not product
I value honesty and integrity in the people I work with above everything else.

3. Be original
If you want to be successful, then yopu must be prepared to think differently to everyone else.

4. Presentation

5. Clear, calm communication
Confidence in yourself inspires people to have confidence in you.

6. Learn fron failure

7. Sacrifice
It is your attitude that will help you reach the heights!

'I was always going to run my own business. It never entered my head that I was ever going to work for anyone else. When I was 7 years old I set up a flower stall at our gate, stocked with flowers I'd picked from our garden. I soon realised that the location was wrong because everybody was driving the wrong way. So I then moved my stall to our neighbour's gate - much to her disgust! Finding the right location was a vital lesson when it came to holiday parks, so I'm glad I learned it early.

I am a very confident person and I think that confidence is the key of the success. People buy from confident people. Remembering people was a key to my success. In a day I'd probably see a thousand people. I tried to recognise and remember most of them. If I couldn't, I learned to look as if I did. Recognise people and make them feel valued, and they will remember you. The customers needs a reason to choose what you are offering rather than the place next door. It's all about environment. You need to create  a place where people feel confortable. If someone was starting a business I would say. 'Why would the custmer choose you?' In the same way, at a job interview, you need to know why the employers should pick you over anyone else.

My next step was to join my parents in running amusement arcades. Again, the focus was on creating a palce where people felt confortable and on giving a good service.

Throughout my career, I'd been building up a picture of how people wanted to spend their leisure time. When the chance came up to buy a struggling holiday park, I went for it. I was confident that I knew how to improve the holiday parks and provide what people wanted. The location had to be special. We built indor swimming pools, restaurants, , clubs, tennis courts and adventure playgrounds because, in this country, the weather is always going to be a problem. By buildings things inside we could extend the holiday season. We managed to keep one of our parks open for 48 weeks, which was a record. In 1999, I sold half my stake in the business in a deal worth £33 million. 

I like to get involved in a project right at the very beginning and enjoy really being able to make a difference. Most of all, I love success and successful people and I get a real buzz out of seeing a business I am involved in succeed.

I think my greatest strengths lie in sales, marketing and understanding people. As a result of this I have invested in a research company, whatever your line of work, it is a key to success. If you are thinking of starting a business, then you need to find out whether there are people wanting to buy that product or use that service. You can find out all the things you need to know quickly and without any hassle. The key is to make sure your research is useful and don't get distracted!

Sales and marketing are not as complex as some people make them seem. You need to think about the customer buying your product or using your service. Work out the types of people that buy your product, Then you need to think about where you could find them and how you can talk to them. It is vital to have a clear idea of your typical customer, and I want to be clear about their age, style, marital status, hobbies, leisure activities, music taste, what newspaper they would read and so on.

You must be confident to be successful, and you must always want to improve. A lot of people think that passion is enough, but it's not- and being passionate too early can be a mistake. At the start you need to be able to take a step back from the project and see if it is working. When I'm making business decisions I can be quite dispassionate. On TV my face is deadpan and, yes, there is a coolness there. I have ever been called an 'Ice Queen', but that must be by somebody who hasn't seen the laughter lines! 

1. Be honest
Investors, employers and anyone worth knowing in life will know when someone is talking rubbish. trying to pull the wool over their eyes is a dangerous game to play. decent people invest in people they trust. Understanding that is your first step to success.

2. Do what you do best the best way you can

3. Make a plan
A step-by-step plan with time scales and milestones is an excellent idea. It is like creating a map to your goals. Think where you want to go, use your knowledge and research.

4. Know your stuff

5. Present yourself well

6. No whingeing

The Ten Goldens Rules

RULE 1: Have a vision

RULE 2: Use your influence

RULE 3: Build your confidence

RULE 4: Make a commitment

RULE 5: Take action

RULE 6: Aim for results

RULE 7: Get your timing right

RULE 8: Persevere

RULE 9: Be caring

RULE 10: Use your intuition