Magazine: Secrets of business success

Most people who start their own business do so with the aim of becoming a business success story – taking the world by storm and even winning an award or two for their innovative and amazing ideas and products.

The reality for most is that running your own company is a hard slog and the rewards can sometimes take years to materialise if not at all. However, for every business failure there is a business success story, so what makes some prosper, while others fail?

To find out we talked to five finalists from the prestigious National Business Awards to get their advice and to hear the secrets of their success.

Shaun Pulfrey founder of the hugely successful Tangle Teezer muses that whilst he can provide the entrepreneurial spirit, he hires people to lead certain divisions of his business and lets them do their job without interfering. Simon Duffy from Bulldog Skincare for Men advises that if people are thinking of starting a business, they should do enough research and then just go for it, whilst Simon La Fosse from La Fosse Associates says budding entrepreneurs should allow themselves to make mistakes, but also know when the cutoff point is for errors to be made.

Emma Cerrone who is new to the world of entrepreneurship having founded Free:Formers in 2013 and Shubber Raja who co-founded the very successful MediLink Consulting only three years ago also share their top tips.