You have to navigate by the stars if you want to find Simon Woodroffe. Go west down Cheyne Walk, a road of swanky houses overlooking the River Thames. Enter his mooring, turn left at Bob Geldof's gaff, clamber over the pontoons past artist Damien Hirst's barge and Woodroffe's houseboat is the one right next to Jamie Oliver's studio.
You'll recognise him instantly from his appearances on the first series of entrepreneurial reality TV show Dragons' Den. He's the one with the mutton chop whiskers who made his fortune with YO! Sushi, the UK's first chain of conveyor belt sushi bars.
On television, he comes across as an unsmiling, austere, almost Dickensian figure. It's a shame because in real life he is warm and lively and one of the most creative business people you are likely to meet.
"Part of that (cold) persona was real," he confesses. "We saw eighty pitches in fifteen days and mostly you could just tell they hadn't thought their ideas through properly. I suppose we were so tough because of the way the producers had set the whole thing up.
"When I saw the second series I felt that it had got even tougher," he continues. "My preferred approach is to support and applaud people who set out to do new things. I did smile wryly and thought that it was not for me ..."
This is a man who doesn't even own a TV and who seems genuinely to dislike the way that TV makers believe that negative programmes attract audiences these days. Just a few minutes in his company reveals that his whole being seems to be about the power of positive energy and attitude. So why do it? Why play along with a game you don't like?
"Because it was such a great opportunity," he laughs. "It‘s good for business. I enjoy learning new things and I get to meet all sorts of interesting new people."
In the world of Simon Woodroffe, nearly everything is a positive opportunity – even things that are apparently negative. All you need to do is seize life with both hands and the fruits of abundance will be yours, he seems to say.
We saw eighty pitches in fifteen days and mostly you could just tell they hadn't thought their ideas through properly.
"Be a good listener ... don't think about what you are going to say until the silence at the end of a sentence …don't listen to the voice in your head saying you're not good enough … try not using the word ‘but' for 24 hours … make the hardest call you can imagine, now … support your people in failure, it helps them become strong … new concepts require individuals not committees …" Woodroffe issues forth an endless stream of high energy rhetoric and advice.
It's his own personal blend of psychoanalysis, eastern mysticism and management speak. He calls it 'finding your YO!' after his own experience of setting up YO Sushi! It wasn't simply the way he made a lot of money – £10m in six years – but the way he discovered his own personal path in life.
His first career was in the entertainment business. He designed and staged concerts for many of the biggest names in 70s and 80s rock music, including the likes of Madness, Rod Stewart and George Michael – not forgetting Live Aid.
"I had planned to be a millionaire before I was 20, but I was so busy having a good time that I put it off 'till I was 30. The time drifted and I got divorced in my late thirties, which threw me to my knees. Time was ticking away and I was still procrastinating."
By now he was nearly broke. So he scraped together every penny he could muster (£150,000) and, with no restaurant experience at all, he set up YO! Sushi in 1997 after an acquaintance suggested he open a conveyor belt sushi bar with girls in PVC mini skirts. Its hallmark is a constant stream of innovations, including call buttons, robot drinks trolleys, Japanese TV and self-heating plates.
In fact the need for constant innovation is one of his great business themes. If he has a mantra in business it is CAN I? – Constant And Never ending Innovation. Current projects include YOTEL – a luxury hotel with rooms of just 10 square metres, YO! Zone – a health spa without the attitude, and the YO! Japan clothing range.
He has also developed a successful sideline as a public speaker, giving inspirational talks about his YO! experience. Part stand-up, part rah-rah session, part reminiscence, he's back in showbiz again, performing as many as 100 ‘gigs' a year.
If I'd researched the concept of people sitting on the floor or lying on beds drinking beer from taps or eating sushi off a conveyor belt, YO! Sushi would never have happened!
You might assume that Woodroffe is a marketing genius. "No," he says, "I'm an entrepreneur. Not the same at all. People say I'm good at marketing, but that's rubbish," he scoffs. "If I'd researched the concept of people sitting on the floor or lying on beds drinking beer from taps or eating sushi off a conveyor belt, it would never have happened! Throw away your research budgets, I say! Spend the money on doing interesting things instead! Add some real zizz to your business."
Yes, that's all very well if you happen to be, say, setting up a leading edge restaurant in Central London, or putting on bands or launching into the international fashion arena. But the vast majority of businesses are manufacturing widgets in Preston or selling stationery in Slough. What about them?
"I've been a widget man in the past," enthuses Woodroffe. "There is zizz in every business. Step back and look at what you are and make your business true to you. Do what you do well and believe in it. You can believe in window cleaning for instance, even that can have zizz. You can turn it into a real moment of clarity and luxury in your clients' lives."
In fact, there is virtually no limit to the redeeming power of entrepreneurialism, he argues. "I'm not ideological but I do believe in the best management possible. We need professional MPs and a professional government. Eventually I believe that the country will be run on business principles. If we (entrepreneurs and businesspeople) ran the civil service there is no doubt in my mind, we would definitely kick ass."
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