If there is anyone who knows how to grow a business it is James Caan. As well as being co-founder of The EBA he is a serial entrepreneur and runs his successful private equity firm, Hamilton Bradshaw. We asked him to reflect on his success stories so you can learn from his lessons.

When we first start businesses many of us, leap into the fray without much thought for what’s going to happen next month or next year because we are concentrating so hard on the here and now and the challenges that we face on a day to day basis.

Successful entrepreneurs often exhibit familiar traits: they are passionate about their businesses, determined to succeed, very hands on but most of all they are risk-takers. The strength of Britain’s entrepreneurial and small business sector will be the vital cog that turns the wheels to re-energise our economy.

The recession has hit the so-called “Y Generation” very hard (that’s people born between 1980 and 1994 in case you were wondering. I know I was!). There are fewer jobs – and certainly no job security.

One of the words I have adopted and found myself using daily with people is “anchor”. Some time a go I was seeking an anchor to provide myself with stability in the rough waters that life can throw up in front of us. I found that my anchor points were my knowledge and my community of friends that I had built up through my social networking.