by Real Business - Tuesday, 6th May 2008 -

We hear loads of good stuff when we’re talking to entrepreneurs so in honour of those men and women who know just the right thing to say, here is the Real Business Top ten entrepreneur quotes.

1) "Never send me an email. It's the worst way to get hold of me. I receive 500 a day and they're all Viagra and penis patches." Greek billionaire Alki David bemoans modern methods of communication

2) “I wasn’t the type of person who ran the school tuck shop when I was four.” EquityFD founder Sarah Hunt reassures would-be entrepreneurs they don’t have to come out of the womb with a business idea.

3) "If you don’t want anything to do with children, you might as well just employ gay men." Olly Swanton, founder of Way to Blue, supports the rights of parents.

4) “I took over from my father – an old fashioned gentleman – in about 1990 when he retired and he was ever so good. I’m now 42 and I’ve got friends farming locally that still can’t sign a cheque. When I left college, I went around the world for seven or eight months and when I came back, dad sat me down in the family home and said ‘Are you going anywhere now?’ I said ‘No’ so he got out the cheque book and said ‘You’d better get on with that’.” Taking over the family business was relatively pain free for Andy Fussel, farmer and owner of Fussels Fine Foods.

5) “I always switch my phone off at weekends. If you become a slave to your business, you’ll totally lose the plot.” Goldtrail Travel founder Kadir Aydin strives for a good work-life balance.

6) “When you’re competing with huge businesses like Procter & Gamble and Unilever, who can just throw huge amounts of cash at things, you’ve got to be something different. You’ve got to zag where they zig.” We like the way the King of Shaves, Will King, talks about business strategy.

7) “The management team are now really excited but it was quite scary at first because people were thinking ‘Oh my god, we’ll just be absorbed into RPM International’. But the only reason that I would let Flowcrete be sold is on the condition that it will retain its brand identity. And I know that it will continue to grow and eventually become the number one seamless flooring company in the world – I know it will.” Dawn Gibbins is confident about the future of Flowcrete after selling the company to RPM International for £35m.

8) “When I first approached my mum about going into business together, I said ‘Mum, I’ve got to speak to you about something really important’. Her first reaction was, ‘Are you pregnant?’ When I told her I actually wanted to go into business with her, she said ‘I don’t know if that’s better or worse!’” We can’t wait for the reaction from Letizia Tufari’s mum, and Venturi’s Table business partner, when she actually is pregnant.

9) “Claire is like a poor man's Ruth Badger (and that really is saying something), Raef is a joker (entrepreneur my arse, who honestly knows a self-respecting "entrepreneur" that applies for a job on TV?) and as for Kevin... I'm certain he is a plant just to add entertainment. Kevin The Apprentice... more like Kevin from Roland Rat.” Does Broadbean Technology managing director Dan McGuire rate anyone on The Apprentice?

10) "I have to speak up for what’s unfair and there is no fairness in smashing someone to bits for being critical.” The Black Farmer, Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones, on Tesco's attempts to silence its critics.

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