DEBORAH Meaden has revealed what every entrepreneur needs to watch out for to ensure that their business survives.

In a recent podcast appearance with Secret Leaders, the BBC Dragon revealed what often kills most businesses.

This includes breaking down common mistakes business owners make and offering actionable steps to help entrepreneurs turn it around when things go bad.

Born in Taunton, Deborah Meaden has dealt with her fair share of Somerset businesses - including Fox Brothers & Co LTD, based in Wellington.

Deborah has been associated with the Wellington based textile mill company since June 2009, eventually acquiring the business in its entirety in November 2009 with fellow shareholder Douglas Cordeaux.

Deborah said that it wasn’t easy to get the business off the ground after coming in but, with the help of a friend, she managed to make some changes.

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Speaking as a guest on the podcast, Deborah Meaden was asked what she thinks kills businesses the most in their first couple of years: "I always knew, even when I was 4 or 5 years old, [that] I wanted to be in business.

"The one that I see most often is over-expectations.

"So, things are going to happen faster and they're going to be twice as good as you think - and they're not.

"They always take twice as long and they're never as good as you think."

Deborah added: "I don't love numbers, I love what numbers tell me.

"It really worries me when I'm involved with businesses and they can't produce their management accounts because they're too busy to do it.

"I think oh woah woah woah, you know, now I'm worried because we don't know what's coming down the track."

The BBC Dragon has written a new book this year called 'Deborah Talks Money', which focuses on trying to teach people of all ages the trials and tribulations of business.

Deborah added: "We are not taught financial literacy in school, which I find absolutely staggering.

"You can do nothing without understanding money.

"What I want it to be, is a book that stays on the bookshelf, and then you go and take it off the bookshelf and go 'ooh yeah that's what I needed to know'."

Speaking about one of her first businesses in the UK, Deborah Meaden spoke about her experience as a 20-year-old entrepreneur: "I made the same mistakes again and again, and I still do now.

"It's all part of the toolbox needed for future business experiences.

"I was walking down Knightsbridge and saw a Stefanel and wondered, ooh, I wonder if they are coming to the UK and if they are franchising.

"I went in, and the head office was in that store at the time, and I tried my luck to see if they were franchising and if I could meet the people involved with the deal.

"The guy who I spoke to said yes we are and took my details, and I then left a few hours later.

"I had a friend down in Taunton with a shop, that was doing next to nothing, and I said how about we do a Stefanel franchise together? And we did.

"I then became a partner who bought one of the first Stefanel textile franchises in the UK.

"Give it a go."