Rex Features
Enter the Dragon’s Den
Entrepreneur Peter Jones talks time management, technology and ‘knee rollerskates’
Peter Jones began his business career as a tennis coach before moving swiftly into supplying computers and IT services. By his late 20s, however, he’d lost his business and found himself with nothing. Today, he is one of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs, with extensive business operations in telecoms, television and property. Peter is also one of the most feared Dragons on the hugely popular
Dragons’ Den.
At school, were you the kid who set up his own stall selling sweets to the others?
Well, similar. When I was 16, I qualified as a tennis coach, setting up my own academy to teach other kids. I was playing to my strengths and also giving the other kids skills they wanted to learn.
From tennis to cocktails to telly, explain your meteoric rise.
The Tennis Academy was pretty successful and I was driving a car whilst most of my friends were riding around on bikes. That taught me many of the basics. After leaving school, I started my own computer company, as well as opening a bar and restaurant. Then in my later 20s, through making many mistakes, I lost my business and found myself with nothing. The only thing I could do was to get a job and I ended up working for a computer giant. Within nine months of joining, I was promoted to become the youngest-ever head of the PC business in the UK, aged 28. But I really wanted to branch out on my own and start a telecoms business, which I did in 1998. The firm experienced explosive growth and has won many awards, including one as one of the fastest-growing companies in Europe. We are very proud of what we have achieved. The people in my businesses are the reason for our continued success, and they deserve the recognition as much as me.
How did you get involved in Dragons’ Den?
I was asked to appear on a pilot of Dragons’ Den in 2004. It was supposed to be a one-hour documentary about business pitches. We are now into series six! I went on to create a show in America called American Inventor after taking an idea to Simon Cowell. ABC commissioned the show and in March 2006 it became a Number One hit for the network in the US.
Do you have a motto?
Yes – “There’s no such thing as failure, only feedback.” Another one of my mottos is, “For a dream to become reality, make it real enough to believe in.”
Does your success have as much to do with time management as it does with the strength of your ideas?
I’m not fantastic at time management, to be honest. I think my success has to do with my irrepressible drive and energy and having a strong team around me. I’m constantly trying to do a thousand things at once.
Should business people always work in areas they know, or can they turn their business acumen to anything?
I think entrepreneurial skills are transferable: I’ve identified 10 qualities which I think make entrepreneurs successful. I call them my golden rules, and they include things like Vision, Confidence and Perseverance. By developing these qualities you can turn your hand to anything.
A recent newspaper article suggested the very rich know very little about the lives of the very poor. How true is that of you?
Having been poor, rich and somewhere in between, I can say it’s not true. If you look at the Sunday Times Rich List, a majority of the very successful people on it have worked their way up from nothing. I didn’t come from a wealthy background, and I’m proud of the fact that I’ve made my own way in life. I enjoy a luxurious lifestyle now, and I really value it because I’ve known what it’s like to be at the opposite end of the spectrum. It’s quite telling as well that philanthropy in the UK is growing, with over £2 billion given away each year – wealthy people are looking to give back to society in a meaningful way.
Can you teach someone how to make money or is it an innate ability?
I think entrepreneurial skills can be taught. I say that not everyone can bend it like Beckham, but we can all kick a ball. The same applies to business.
What’s the worst business idea you’ve ever heard proposed?
One of the worst must be the ‘knee rollerskates’ idea which was pitched on Dragons’ Den: fathers get holes in their knees when they play with their kids, so a guy invented rollerskates they could wear on their knees to protect their trousers…
Have the mobile phone and internet freed us or enslaved us?
It’s freed us to access the world at the click of a button, and I can’t imagine a world without it. However, I always tell people in my companies to think whether they really need to send an email or whether the personal touch, like a face-to-face chat, would be better.
Do serious businesspeople ever really retire?
I can only speak for myself, but I can’t imagine ever truly retiring – I enjoy working in business too much for that!
Dragons’ Den,
from Sony Pictures TV International, is currently airing on BBC Two
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