Deborah Meaden

“I think I'm absolutely perfect. Because if I'm not good at something I completely banish it from my mind. Completely. Like it never happened.”

“Both my parents were entrepreneurs and built a nice leisure business. But money was tight when I was growing up.”

“You need to tell people where they stand. If someone's done a good job, you should tell them they've done damn well. But if they haven't, you should take the same attitude.”

“I'm deeply impatient. If I can't park directly in front of somewhere, I go home.”

“The one thing I say, I will invest in anything - I don't care what it is - as long as it doesn't cut across my ethical code, because at the end of the day I want to be able to live with myself. I want to feel proud of what I do.”

“I am not just sitting in my office making deals all the time.”

“I did ballroom dancing at school, but I was atrocious.”

“Business doesn't cut you any slack because of your gender. You're either good at what you do or you're not.”

“I'm impervious to charm. I can see through it.”

“The minute I think 'Oh God, I don't want to do this because I'm scared,' is the moment I have to do something, whatever it is.”

“You don't have to start with your dream job, and your idea of what the dream job might be will change during a working life that will have its share of ups and downs, setbacks and advances.”

“If someone needs help, I don't do tea and sympathy, but I'm honest and practical - that's how I was brought up.”

“I hardly ever swear. So when I do, my husband knows it's extremely serious.”

“When I first started on 'Dragons' Den,' I was under pressure to buy flashy cars and boats but I resisted.”

“Nobody is like the person I am on TV, surely, only Cruella de Vil, or the wicked witch from Snow White.”

“Retirement has never, ever crossed my mind. And I honestly can't imagine when or why it would. If you're doing the thing you love, why on earth would you want to stop doing it?”

“You need emotional intelligence; to be happy to take risks; to be competitive and to look forward not backwards.”

“I'm always asked about how women get on in the boardroom and my answer is always, 'Never acknowledge that you are a woman. Your gender is not the point.'”

“When I concentrate, my face is deadpan and I can see there is a coldness there - when I'm making business decisions I know I can be quite dispassionate.”

“I feel like the luckiest person alive. I spend my life doing the stuff I love. I'm surrounded by inventive people who are full of energy and life.”