Interview with Peter Jones of Dragon's Den fame

Last week I had the priviledge of meeting Peter Jones of Dragon's Den fame.

There are 2 things that struck me immediately when I met Peter, the first is how tall he is but more importantly how deeply held his principals and beliefs are.

Peter was keen to talk about his entrepreneurial history and his passionate belief that small businesses are the back bone of Britain's economy. Given his history (he set his first company up while still a teenager, had a successful £1m company in his early 20s, bust by 30 and multi-millionaire and TV personality by 40!) he is in an ideal position to comment on the difficulties and opportunities of starting your own business.

One of the keys to his own success was a complete belief in himself and in his own ability to succeed. When his first company went bust and he had to look for employment the first job he applied for was the MD of Lotus Cars! When something he is involved in does not work out as planned he always looks for the learning rather than considering it a failure. In fact failure was a word he refused to use.

I asked him what one piece of advice he would give people who are just setting up in business and those with small companies. Unsurprisingly he had not 1 but 2 to offer:

1. Do your research. There is no point just asking a few friends and neighbours what they think, you need to do thorough research in to your idea. This needs to include local, face to face research such as selling at craft fairs and school fetes, and also internet research. Make sure you look at what the USA are doing in terms of your shop or product as they are still ahead of us in terms of consumer trends

2. Be creative! Peter was out spoken on the subject of creativity in business. Without creativity you will be just a "me too" which inevitably leads to competiting on price. As a small example he said that he gets hundreds of companies approaching him with new ideas and most of them send in a type written letter. If he gets something even a bit more original such as a CD or a model of the product he is immediately more interested then wading through a letter. So if you are aproaching journalists or retail buyers remember to find ways to make your product or idea stand out from the crowd. Similarly when you are setting up a shop, whether it is on the internet or the high street, think what it is that will stop customers in their tracks and make them buy from your shop.

And a small bit of gossip - he really does not like Duncan Ballantyne!