Quotes from Peter Jones

Business is about making money but it is also about having fun, so get your character across.

I have seen celebrities whose friends change as they become more successful, but my friends haven't changed over 30 years. I've still got some of the friends I had when I was 14 and I see them regularly with their families.

In the 1980s when I was growing up in the Berkshire town of Maidenhead I was heavily into tennis. It was the era of Borg and McEnroe. I used to spend hours hitting balls against a wall, imagining I was beating them both.

We're having to spend a lot of time teaching our entrepreneurs how to teach and, I tell you, it isn't easy and that's why we should have an immense amount of respect for our teachers.

You've got to do the research. You've got to understand the market place, know your competitors.

Business is about more than just money. It's about being creative and innovative.

I remember my first memory is sitting in my dad's chair in a small office and I used to imagine that I was picking up the phone and issuing commands. And I was only seven.

I lost my computer business when I was 29 because I gave credit to firms I didn't investigate. I lost my house and had to move back in with my parents and then I lived in an office for six months.

Knowledge-based apprenticeships kickstart careers. Just look at British fashion designer Karen Millen, for example, who learned her craft through an apprenticeship scheme.

It was tennis that got me started in business. When I was 16 and about to embark on my A-levels, I set up a tennis academy and became one of the youngest qualified tennis coaches in the country. It did well; by the time I was 19 I was able to buy my first house.

Britain lacks that fundamental belief that anyone can make it. What we need is a British dream. Let's give young people the courage and ambition to go for it.

I'm not a guy who plays political games, and I believe absolutely in one method, which is directness.

I never thought I'd be a TV entrepreneur.

When you do make losses, or you have businesses that don't succeed, it's about knowing when to stop and do something else.

One of the things that slightly annoys me in business is that we use words like innovation. Young people often think innovation is about doing something new, but actually it's not. It's about doing something better than your competition.

We've all seen those spoiled little brats that end up being given everything and on their 17th birthday get a Ferrari. That whole thing I just can't bear it.

If someone comes onto 'Dragons' Den' and annoys me, I'm going to tell them exactly what I think.

I think a lot of people are getting bored of audition-based shows, along the lines of 'Strictly Come Dancing' or 'The X-Factor'. I know I am. But 'Dragons' Den' will have a longer shelf-life than all of them because it's fundamentally real in a way that other shows aren't.

I really don't want to encourage young people to think that life is about money only. Life is about being able to give yourself choice.

Being an entrepreneur is probably the most lonely thing you can do.