I saw a quote earlier which got me thinking about useful entrepreneur tips and business advice tips I could share.

I’ve pretty much always been entrepreneurial, hardworking, hustling, selling and working out how to make the next several pounds. That’s for 32 of my 43 years to be precise!

Those weekends spent selling candy floss, popcorn, and toffee apples on the riverside (age 11) to four nights out of seven renting out movies on video – yes video, which was way before NetFlix and Amazon Prime.

I lost track how many movies watched so I could give better customer service (age 13). I’ll never forget those early mornings and late nights. It was worth it, albeit at the sacrifice of some childhood, and taught me a good work ethic and tenacity!

Years later the 6am starts moulded me into a member of the 5am club which, to be honest, is where a lot of my creative thinking or catching up on things happens, as I have the headspace. Apparently, if you own your mornings you will master your life.

For those of you that don’t know, Robin Sharma, who is a leadership and performance expert, introduced the 5am club more than 20 years ago to implement a routine that maximised his clients’ productivity, activating the best health and bullet-proofing their serenity.

You can buy a copy now and it is worth a read.

Entrepreneur tips and business advice I have learnt over the last 20 years include never forgetting your roots and that if you work hard, with the right attitude, it can pay dividends. And this hasn’t come from any book, but from those toffee apple-making days at the age of 11 at 6am. So, if I was to take advice from one of those apples it would be the following and I pass it on to anyone who reads this for free:

• Be well rounded
• Let your plans ripen
• Hold onto core values
• Savour variety
• Eat healthy – something I need to start doing
• Know when to let go
• Take a bite out of life

In this world of overwhelming complexity, it isn’t bad advice at all – from an apple anyway!

Brendan Beeken