As everyone who has started a new business will testify, at the start is it often a tough gig. Slow sales, low funds, high stress and a ton of worry will often get the better of many new entrepreneurs. It can get you down and it is often difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel. A great way to get you through the early times, or anytime that you hit tough times really, is to get inspiration to help you fire through it. This can be done in many ways from reading motivational quotes to getting a pat on the back from a friend or family member for making the leap into business the first place.

A personal favourite of mine is to read up on people who have been there and done it, namely successful business people who started at the bottom. Their stories are often more inspirational than any quote as they lived through your current struggle and made it through the tunnel. This week saw the perfect role model for that aspiration reach the peak of traditional British class structure; Michelle Mone was made a Lady and entered the House of Lords. She has received negative press this week due to it but people should keep in mind just how far she has come. Lady Mone started out just one mile from me, in the east end of Glasgow, a very poor part of the country. She built her business from nothing into a multimillion pound operation and a well-known brand. She is now sitting in the House of Lords. That is no easy feat for anyone to do let alone someone who started at the bottom. Why would you want to discourage that for future generations?

One thing i can be sure of is the people putting the boot in aren’t current aspiring business owners. If they are then they need to take a long hard look at themselves and I wonder if it isn’t just a bit of jealousy. When you start a business your aim is, or at least should be, to make money. Why else would you do it than to make a better life for you and your family? When you make money and become successful certain things will then inevitably open up to you. This is the same for Michelle Mone, so why would you criticise her for taking what her success has provided. I for one would take the fruits of my labour and I imagine most others would too. She went through her tough times, worked hard for her family’s future and achieved a lot. As a result she is now able to enjoy her success, if it wasn’t her it would be someone else, possibly someone less deserving. If you go down the route of reading the stories of successful business people for inspiration then you would be hard pushed to find a better fit than Lady Mone. She may not be perfect (and who is!) but for someone to start where she has and make it to the House of Lords should automatically make her a role model not just for women in business but all aspiring business people.