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" I am a great believer that the risk should reflect the reward. "
Theo Paphitis
Great
Risk
Reward
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" Small does not mean insignificant. "
Theo Paphitis
Insignificant
Small
Does
" 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. "
Theo Paphitis
Independence
Government
Family
" Business isn't complicated; we complicate business. "
Theo Paphitis
Complicate
Complicated
Business
" Good businesses will survive good times and bad times. "
Theo Paphitis
Good
Will
Good Times
" Save money; never rely on other people to lend you money. We call it having 'walking the streets' money - money in your back pocket or bank account that belongs to you. "
Theo Paphitis
Walking
You
Back
" I am the most conservative person you will ever come across, and that's because I'm good at reducing risks while leaving the potential rewards high. "
Theo Paphitis
Risks
Will
You
" 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.' "
Theo Paphitis
Day
Life
My Life
" We survived for hundreds of years under the old banking structure. You'd have clearing banks, then merchant banks doing the racy stuff, and then building societies where you'd join a waiting list for a mortgage. But then banks started buying stockbrokers, doing mortgages, and you ended up with these big banking groups doing everything. "
Theo Paphitis
Building
You
Waiting
" What's crucial in a High Street store is a compelling reason for people to shop there. Shops must offer excellent customer service - and 'theatre' is a must. "
Theo Paphitis
Theatre
Street
People
" 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. "
Theo Paphitis
You
Honesty
People
" Online is not contributing in the same way as the high street in terms of business rates and to the local community. "
Theo Paphitis
Business
Way
Community
" Wherever I go in the world, I put aside several days to go visit the stores. "
Theo Paphitis
Wherever
Go
World
" 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. "
Theo Paphitis
Children
Parents
School
" 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. "
Theo Paphitis
Love
Way
Me
" Great customer service does not come by chance. It is the result of training and ensuring there are enough assistants to serve the customers. "
Theo Paphitis
Chance
Service
Enough
" I hate mornings. "
Theo Paphitis
Mornings
Hate
" The decisions you make when you leave school define the rest of your life. So, in terms of making the right choices for your financial security as you get older, my best advice is to do something you have an interest in and are passionate about, as you'll be working for a long time. "
Theo Paphitis
School
Best
Decisions
" 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. "
Theo Paphitis
Successful
Know
Ideas
" 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. "
Theo Paphitis
Remember
Best
Great
" The more we learn about dyslexia, the more able we will be to help those with it. "
Theo Paphitis
Will
Able
Dyslexia
" 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. "
Theo Paphitis
Say
Street
Someone
" My parents divorced, my brothers and I ended up living with my mother, and we were living with the choice of heating or eating. My mum was working, but she needed financial support to make ends meet. I had to have free school dinners and free school uniforms. "
Theo Paphitis
Mother
Parents
School
" 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. "
Theo Paphitis
People
Challenges
Ideas
" A small business can survive for a while without making a profit, but if its cashflow dries up, the impact is fatal. "
Theo Paphitis
Business
Impact
Small Business
" People in emerging markets want to do business with the U.K. I don't see why the U.K. should be penalised for this. "
Theo Paphitis
Business
See
Should
" When we arrived in the U.K. on the banana boat, we settled right by Old Trafford. "
Theo Paphitis
Arrived
Boat
Banana
" 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. "
Theo Paphitis
Mind
Sleep
Calm
" It's very difficult for an entrepreneur to let go. It's very hard to sell a successful business. People sometimes hold on until the business has no value at all. "
Theo Paphitis
Business
Value
Go
" I admire people who have passion and energy. "
Theo Paphitis
Admire
Passion
People
" I cringe when I watch myself on camera. I'm not articulate, and I'm dyslexic, but somehow it works. "
Theo Paphitis
Watch
Dyslexic
Cringe