THE BEST AND MOST SUCCESSFUL IDEAS ARE THOSE THAT IMPROVE PEOPLE'S LIFE

recently hosted the annual Sunday Times Fast Track 100 event at my Oxfordshire home. It brings together leaders from the 100 fastest-growing private companies in Britain, a number of other leading entrepreneurs, and a few aspiring entrepreneurs from the Branson Centre for Entrepreneurship in Johannesburg, and from the British government's Start-Up Loans scheme, which Virgin administers.

We spent the day listening to each other and sharing stories of achievement and innovation. There was lots of laughter and some great conversations. Looking at the people gathered around our dinner table, I had a wonderful opportunity to reflect on what makes a successful entrepreneur. I found myself going back to basics: the three key attributes that can make a real difference to a person's career.

While I've touched on these points before, some of the entrepreneurs' stories highlighted them in new ways. If you have these basics down, you can give your risky idea a go with more confidence that you're prepared to ride out any trying times ahead.

1. Keep it simple.
The best and most successful ideas are those that improve people's lives. Their founders often have a simple plan focused on a single product or service - one that is prompted by frustration.

Paul Lindley, the founder of Ella's Kitchen, started his business because he could not get his daughter to eat. He wanted to create a convenient product that would make mealtimes fun for babies and young children, along with their parents.

Paul came up with the idea of producing colorful, tactile pouches filled with organic meals. The innovative recipes wowed parents and toddlers alike, and took market leaders such as Heinz and Hipp Organic in Britain by surprise, since their rather stale offerings relied on glass jars and traditional flavors. Ella's Kitchen has captured 19 percent of the market in the United Kingdom and copycats are packaging their products in pouches.

As he told his story, it was clear that Paul truly loves his work. He turned his momentary frustration about the difficulty of feeding his daughter into something that is making mealtimes more enjoyable for families.

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