In my own case, I think much of my success has come from taking nothing for granted and questioning absolutely everything, a philosophy which was already forming when I was sent to boarding school aged seven. The school was based in Wincanton, Somerset, and there were so many rules there I’m not convinced even the school authorities could remember them all. It was a small school with around 100 pupils between the ages of seven and 12. It wasn’t a particularly posh, or strict school, but I really resented the loss of freedom and independence, even at such a young age. I had always been an independent and self-reliant child and rebelled at what I considered to be pointless rules.

My first few years at the school were among the most miserable in my life but I learned to navigate my way through the system and to channel my frustration into self-reliance. By sticking by the rules that I thought were sensible and completely disregarding the ones that I thought were stupid I managed to resist the restrictive and linear approach the school so wanted me to have and adopted the more intuitive, free-thinking and adaptable approach which I advocate here and which has stood me in such good stead in my business career. Along the way, I gained some relief from the daily grind by forcing exasperated teachers to explain why I should abide by what were clearly farcical regulations. My teachers must have found me very challenging, but what I was developing were the habits of thought that have carried me through my years in business.

Today, more than ever, it is important to have creative, all round entrepreneurs who know how to think for themselves. We are in the toughest economic climate that most generations have ever seen, but that doesn’t mean that people should put their dreams on ice and wait until buoyant times. True entrepreneurs have never been more relevant. Fortunes can – and will – be made in this recession because good entrepreneurs, with the right attitude and a brilliant idea, will not stop building successful businesses. Forged in the current climate, these ventures will be fundamentally far stronger than their counterparts started in more prosperous times. I firmly believe that the pressure cooker conditions of the recession will create some of the new household names of tomorrow. If even just one would-be entrepreneur is inspired by this book to turn their day-dream into a reality, I shall feel I have done my job.