I started my first business when I was 25 back in the 1990s. It had successes but in the end it went under after about 4 or 5 years operation. I had to borrow

I started my first business when I was 25 back in the 1990s. It had successes but in the end it went under after about 4 or 5 years operation. I had to borrow from several friends to avoid being bankrupted. Maybe around $80,000, which was alot of money at the time. The friends universally said "mate I don't care if you never pay it pack, you just sort out what you need to with it." Paying the money back became my only life mission. Everything I did was focused on paying that money back. It took me more than 5 years and I paid every cent back with 10% interest on top. I operate on the principle that no-one should ever be worse off for backing me. I want people to see me as a person of integrity. Looking after the interests of others who have backed you should be your primary driver. I can talk about it easily now as it's 25 years down the track, but the whole experience at the time was traumatic.