I'd rather be rich and miserable than poor and miserable.
— Theo Paphitis
If someone underestimates you because you are warm and approachable, then you have an advantage over them.
I used to see Triumph TR7s and E-Type Jags, and I used to think, 'One day, I'm gonna have one of those.' I remember seeing an E-Type and walking round it 40 or 50 times.
The reality in business and in 'Dragons' Den' is you win some, and you lose some.
I'm not into cats; they aren't my bag.
I'm a traditionalist, a family man. I love my kids. I believe I have brought them up the right way. They are all very different: they have different drives, different ambitions. They are never going to be me. They are going to be themselves.
Retail is my game. I spend every waking hour thinking about it. I started in the industry at the age of 18 after trying various other things that were mind-numbingly boring to me.
I'm a shopaholic. I really am. I can't help myself. I do go into, browse, and purchase from my own shops, too, although the CEOs who run my businesses wish I didn't.
My family come from Cyprus. Both my father and my grandfather worked on the British bases there, and as the British government granted independence to Cyprus, they granted British passports to those who worked with them.
Souvenirs always tend to look great when you see them in some exotic souk but awful when you finally get them back home. They tend to start in my study and eventually get demoted to the garage or the loft.
The high streets I remember best were Seven Sisters Road in north London and then sunny Peckham in south London after we moved there. They were where my parents used to shop. They were great, part of being a teenager.
I try to support local traders. The service makes up for any extra cost.
On Saturday, I don't want to be woken up until at least nine: I like a bit of a lie-in, a cup of tea, toast and marmalade, and the newspaper.
I'm incredibly passionate about business, about small businesses, and about kids being given the right skills so they are successful.
I started work at 13, had three or four part-time jobs, and learnt very quickly the values of work.
Entrepreneurship is just one thing that needs to be in schools.
I love the English language, but I'm crap at it, so I might as well do what I'm good at. The same goes for my kids, who are also dyslexic. I won't pressure them to do anything. They've each got a trust and a mortgage-free property, which is a lot more than I had, so I know they will always be fine.
Women have to work harder to be in the same position as a fella because they often have to balance work with running a family.
What makes business exciting is that you don't need a fancy degree, and anyone can do it.
I was born in Cyprus, but my family moved to England when I was about six.
The eight years I spent at Millwall were among the best times of my life.
I can walk all day in malls, shopping centres, high streets - I love it.
I was useless in the classroom; I would spend my time looking out of the window after the first 10 minutes. But when you do an apprenticeship, you don't have to wait for the teacher to tell you when it's time to start, because you are on the shop floor learning for real.
Both my sons are dyslexic, and so, too, in a much milder form, is one of my daughters.
I'd like to think people know what I stand for, which is straight-talking honesty and telling you not just what you want to hear but where it is at.
I like the odd day relaxing by the pool, but I couldn't stand to sunbathe for an entire week.
I'm an avid sailor, and my first time exploring the Dalmatian Coast and the Croatian islands was very special.
The high street is not a retail thing: it's a social thing, part of the British lifestyle. And I say that as someone who started his life on Limassol high street in Cyprus.
I don't really sleep until gone midnight anyway. It takes me a while to calm down before my mind allows me to switch off.
When we arrived in the U.K. on the banana boat, we settled right by Old Trafford.
When I went to school, most parents wanted their children to get good A-levels, to go to university, and get a degree so your children had a better life than you. The way out of poverty was through a degree. But the whole world has moved on from that.
Business isn't complicated; we complicate business.
I didn't have a great childhood, and neither did Debbie, my wife, so we both try to give the kids not only the material things we never had but also the hugs and the love.
I cringe when I watch myself on camera. I'm not articulate, and I'm dyslexic, but somehow it works.
Showing your emotions is not a weakness.
I've always maintained the basic business principles of keeping it simple, doing your homework, hard work, and common sense.
In Cyprus, our house was right on the beach. I could walk out of our front door, cross a road, and there was the sea.
'Dragons' Den' and 'The Apprentice' have opened people's eyes to what they can do.
Wherever I go in the world, I put aside several days to go visit the stores.
The minute I stepped foot on the shop floor and started serving in a retail environment, I knew it was the career for me. I was a shop assistant for just one day, and I thought, 'This is it. This is the rest of my life. This is all I want to do.'
The more we learn about dyslexia, the more able we will be to help those with it.
In my early teens, I was working in a Wimpy Bar and delivering cab company cards to make cash. I also ran a tuck shop at school. I struggled academically because of being dyslexic. When I saw other families and what they had, it inspired me. I thought, 'I can get that, too, if I work hard.'
I liked Tom Bower's biography of Bernie Ecclestone, the former Formula 1 boss.
Every successful high street needs a catalyst that starts making people want to come there, and independent shops can be that catalyst. If you want a new idea on the high street, you'll probably find it in an independent. I know I shouldn't say this, but new ideas rarely happen in chains. What we do is adopt it once we spot it in an independent.
For me, the high street is a key part of how we live, what sort of community we are, how we get our news, and how we get our gossip.
I hate mornings.
When I was on 'Dragons' Den,' most of the letters I received were from people under 16. They wrote about their ideas, their views, their challenges. The audience is actually a very young audience.
Entrepreneurship can be taught to people with average academic abilities - the proof of that is everywhere you look.
The wider the exposure that we give children of the real working world, the better.
Making the first million is hard; making the next 100 million is easy.
