Alan Meyerson

Alan Meyerson spotted the opportunity to take over the reins of teleshopping company Danoz Direct in 2004 and immediately began listening to customers to find out what they really wanted.

His strategy was to source good, high-quality products – such as a simple, reliable machine to clean both floors and carpets. That led to one of Danoz's most successful products, the H20 steam mop.

Today Meyerson personally tests all of the goods that Danoz sells, and his focus means the company has been able to grow from 90 employees to 140 this year, with revenue of well over $30 million and re-orders running at 20%.

The company has also launched a retail arm and plans to start appearing in Australian shopping centres this year.

"As an entrepreneur, I'd urge you to find out how your industry operates, learn from it and test ways to make it better," Meyerson says. "Sometimes you'll fail but you can't grow with fear of failure."