Someone once told me that you only get on average of seventy summers in your lifetime. When I was setting up my new business I always had this in the back of my mind. Life should be about living and experiences not about money. The by-product of success can often be money, but it shouldn’t be the primary driver. Very often people forget this because they get themselves into positions where they are unable to make their own decisions, because their lifestyle dictates that they need to earn a certain figure to maintain the status quo. I felt very fortunate to be in the financial position that I had achieved at such an early age, but it was the experiences that I had gained which were far more valuable to me than any financial returns.
Caspar explained to me the simple economic principle of diminishing marginal utility, which I failed to understand during my A-level in economics at Wellingborough. This simply means that we value that which we have more than that which we could possibly accrue. I was prepared to risk my reputation and time in order to make the new company successful, but not the hard cash that I had accrued. A good principle to adopt when setting up a new business is only spend what you can afford and don’t have too many delusions of grandeur.