Marianne Abib-Pech talks to Ning Li, the founder of made.com

Never depend on one supplier – it will come back to haunt you, explains Will Wynne

"Admitting you have faults, realising that the things you believed in turn out to be fallacy, appreciating that change is important - and that the change may have to come from you."

Incorporating a company is relatively quick, cheap and easy to do, but putting a shareholders’ agreement in place with your fellow shareholders can seem expensive and time consuming. Is it something that needs to be done early on in the lifecycle of a company or can it be put off until later?

A great company is driven by great people. It really is that simple. Often, when we think of the type of employees we want, we look for those who will get the job done - but really it is not about that at all. As the marketing guru Seth Godin claims, we do not want ‘cogs’, we want ‘linchpins’.

Once you’ve taken the plunge and turned your idea into a successful business, it’s likely that you’ll need to secure investment to help expand your company. But it’s not as simple as approaching potential investors and just walking away with the cash. You will need to know your company inside out and be prepared to justify what the money will be used for.

Modern Business has to a large extent become a paradox. As barriers to trade have been relaxed and technology has opened up global market places to the smallest of companies, for a variety of reasons, the conventions created by technology and business theory are killing innovation.