Why I bet my shirt on an Aston Martin

Nick Wheeler, the Eton-schooled founder of Charles Tyrwhitt Shirts, gambled £17,000 on the classic car market to raise money for his business - and it has paid off handsomely.

"I think self-belief is very important for entrepreneurs," says Nick Wheeler, the Eton-schooled founder of Charles Tyrwhitt Shirts. The 43-year-old has certainly never been short of faith in himself. Fresh out of school, on his first day working in Harrod's golfwear department, he told a colleague: "I know you've been here 20 years and I've been here a day, but I think there's a few things you're not doing as well as you could be." The tactless young upstart found himself shifted to the basement, away from customers and staff alike. Unimpressed by life as an employee, he resolved to be his own boss.

One of his first ventures, as a student at Bristol University, was to import cheap custom-made shoes from India. It seemed a great idea. But his order system, which involved tracing around customers' feet then faxing the result to the factory on a dodgy phoneline, left a lot to be desired. "It was an absolute disaster. Not one shoe fitted." So the next year he turned to shirts. A friend's cousin, who'd been in the army, had an address book with a list of ex-officers. After tracking down a Lancashire mill and a factory to make the shirts, Wheeler typed out 600 A5 mail inserts, which he then hand-signed and "pelted out" to the names. Within weeks, he had 30 responses. He continued to track down more lists of names, and by the time he left university, was turning over £12,000 a year.

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Jody Clarke

Jody studied at the University of Limerick and was a senior writer for MoneyWeek. Jody is experienced in interviewing, for example digging into the lives of an ex-M15 agent and quirky business owners who have made millions. Jody’s other areas of expertise include advice on funds, stocks and house prices.