How did you move into an entrepreneurial role? Did you always know where your talents lay?
One of the things I know about myself is that I am not a good manager. For that reason, people tend to grow into good managers in my businesses. I start a company and then someone in that company becomes great at management. They live and breathe the company. It's fabulous having that trust.
What qualities do you look for in an employee?
I look for people that want to succeed, that don't switch off at 5 o'clock at night. My employees are dedicated, good at resolving issues and have the ability to take on more and more roles.
When I first started the club, Bannatyne's, I looked after every single aspect of the club and every single employee, but now we have clubs worth £4m that I haven't seen.
Were health clubs a passion of yours and is that why you went into business?
At the time, I was in the process of selling one of my businesses and wanted to reinvest the money. Then I had a skiing accident and almost lost my right leg below the knee. To rebuild the muscle that was wasting away, I went to a gym. I knew how many members there were at this gym because I asked, I knew what the fees were because I was paying them and I sat in the gym and I thought 'I could build one of these' and now I've got 34. I could see it was fantastic money.
What other projects do you have in the pipeline?
Currently I'm filming for a programme called Mind Your Own Business, which begins Monday 11th April. It's a daytime programme that will be shown Monday to Friday for four weeks. The idea is to improve the profits of small businesses and do a bit of a makeover on them as well. As well as presenting the programme I am working with Jackie Gold who runs the 'Ann Summers' sex shops. There will be other presenters and entrepreneurial experts like Michelle Mone of Ultimo Bras and she's working with Simon Woodroffe, my colleague on Dragon's Den and founder of Yo! Sushi.
Where do you see your TV career going?
I see it as being pretty big - I want my own show and I have been talking to four independent production companies so I really believe I will have my own show or present a show one day.
What are the main things to get across if you are pitching to investors?
You have to know your stuff. One lady on Dragon's Den didn't know the difference between gross profit and net profit and she said she had a business plan downstairs. But she should have read the business plan and known these numbers. She should have asked the accountant what she needed to know. You've got to get across what your product is and what your product does, why it's unique. You've got to get yourself across because we've got to believe that you are going to work 50/60 hours a week dedicated to your business.
How long should a pitch be?
Three minutes is good for a pitch. They were given three minutes but what I noticed is that some people repeated the same thing. They didn't have anything in a set order and that's what they should have done.
How do you think women can attract more investment?
They just have to do the same as men. They just have to prove that their product is right and that they are dedicated to it.
What made you invest in Elizabeth Galton Jewellery at £55,000 for a 15% share?
She had so much enthusiasm, I don't know if the products are good, the jewellery business is a risky one but she believed in the product so much I thought it was worth the risk. She had a product that could make money, she didn't have a stupid invention, so I believed if any body could make it in the jewellery business she could. No matter what was said to her she was just so cool about it.
What personality traits are you looking for in the people you invest in?
What I ask myself is whether I can work with the people involved and their personalities. Also, am I going to enjoy it? I'm not going to invest in something I don't enjoy.
What would put you off investing in someone?
A bad idea that wouldn't make money. If I didn't trust that person to work hard or do what they said. If I didn't like them.
You've got the ideas, passion and inspiration but how does a business move from small to big league?
The first thing is wanting to. There are a lot of entrepreneurs that I have a lot of respect for who aren't going to become millionaires - they just want to run their own shop, pub or sell a service ie write for magazines or taking photos. They don't want anything else other than that because it's a lifestyle. They want to be a lifestyle entrepreneur and that's fantastic.
You have to decide if you want to be a lifestyle entrepreneur or not. If you have two facilities, you can't be in two shops at once - you have to hire a manager. Then one day you might find yourself not in the shop but in an office running 5 or 6 shops and you're stuck in the office meeting people.
What makes you a successful entrepreneur, what are the characteristics?
I think it is just confidence in yourself that you can do it. Also the fact that the one thing I am very good at (and anyone can be good at nowadays with computers), is numbers. Some people can naturally count numbers and I'm one of them.
How do you define the line between arrogance and pure self-belief?
It's hard isn't it? I actually do public speaking and one of the things I say is that modesty is not a quality required by an entrepreneur - a little bit of arrogance won't do you any harm. You need to have that bit of arrogance, you can't be modest about everything about yourself. You've got to know the things that are good about you.
Dawn Winder founder of www.i-define.co.uk uses branding strategies and coaching techniques with her clients enabling them to build their own personal brand identity.
