Jonathan Elvidge was ordinary once. He came from a humble background, left school and worked as a salesman for nine years. Then, aged 27, he founded The Gadget Shop, which – now in its tenth year – has 46 stores and sales of  £40m.

For most of us, making millions is just a dream. Only a few will ever manage it and Elvidge didn’t think he would be one of them. ‘I always thought that rich and successful people were different. I imagined that they had special genes,’ he says.

But Elvidge was fascinated by the business elite and wanted to learn from them. He went to a book shop and started reading. ‘I devoured every book on the best salesmen of all time,’ he says. ‘When I had finished I started on the nextdoor section which had biographies on successful people ingeneral.’ He tried to identify 10 points that had ensured each person’s success. ‘Despite the variations of circumstance and business I started to notice a pattern in the stories, it was quite easy to draw parallels in the different experiences. Then it drawned on me that these were ordinary people and that ordinary people could achieve extraordinary things.’

Inspired by the phrase adopted by Andrew Carnegie – ‘Conceive, believe and achive’ – Elvidge decided to build his own business. One year he had left his Christmas shopping too late and was trying to find a retailer that stocked a large range of innovative presents. Unable to find one, Elvidge realised that he had come across a gap in the market. He explored every angle from financing to shop sites and he went to every trade fair in search of gadgets for the shop.

One tip Elvidge picked up was the importance of visualising his business. He even built up a model of the shop. All this time he had been working for another company, but it became clear that Elvidge couldn’t set up the new business and keep his job. In deciding to quit he lost the only income he had. He also had a bank loan that would swallow £30,000 a year. Elvidge then faced disaster. His shop was not ready and he had to delay opening by four months, which meant missing out on the crucial Christmas sales. As a result, the bank withdrew his loan.

‘I could have given up but i remembered from my reading that Sophie Mirman had got funding from a government initiative when she set up The Sock Shop and luckily a managed to get some help too. You have to be prepared to break conventions and be able to see a way out when all seems lost.’ When The Gadget Shop eventually opened it was an instant success and it is still growing. As a magic formula. ‘The prospect of making a fortune is a strong motivator to start a business but, to succeed, entrepreneurs also need to have a lot of energy. Passion and belief are key to finding a way to achieve your goals. The fortune will follow afterwards.’