Twenty Questions for Business 550 Diane Benussi divorce lawyer at Benussi & Co and chairman of Birmingham Forward, explains her first job and her biggest business mistake
- How long does it take you to get to work? I live in the city centre and walk to work which takes me 10 minutes.
- What are you normally doing when you're travelling to work? Enjoying the changing seasons as I walk along the canal paths and then checking forthcoming events in Birmingham Symphony Hall.
- What do you always bring with you to work? My IPAQ, my mobile phone, my handbag and my bright pink Smythson notebook.
- What was your first job and how much did you get paid? My first job was selling ice creams on Towan Beach in Newquay. It was great fun because it was at the beginning of the surfing era. I remember Michael Caine walking past once and giving me a wink!
- Would you say you live to work or work to live? That depends on whether I am at home or work!
- What can you see from your office window? The Natwest offices - it looks dreadful. The windows are dirty. It is unloved and should be knocked down quickly. However, I will hate it even more when it does because of all the noise!
- Do you make time for lunch every day? No - much to my regret and eternal shame!
- What are your three best attributes? Focus, good people skills and confidence.
- And your three worst? The inability to tolerate fools gladly would be my first, second and third worst attributes. Everything I do revolves around that.
- What irritates you most about running your business? Stream emails. It's irritating to be copied into absolutely everything.
- What has been your most satisfying moment in business? Answering "yes" to the question: "Does that mean no more exams mommy?" when I finally qualified as a solicitor with two young children.
- What is the most important thing you look for in potential new employees? Besides all being adequately qualified to do the job intellectually, I think I look for people with great people skills who are team players.
- If you could work in a completely different field, what would it be? Brain Surgery - I don't think patients would argue back as much as clients do!
- How important do you think a university education is to success in business? I have found that within the professional services sector those who didn't own a degree qualification have felt they have missed out. A degree has become a golden ticket that gives the person who owns it confidence.
- What was your biggest mistake in business? I failed to realise that expansion inevitably leads to cash flow problems. You can have a successful business and still run out of cash. It was particularly easy to do if you worked for Legal Aid authorities. Unfortunately, I made this mistake not once but twice.
- If you could employ anybody from the world of business who would it be and why? Referring back to question nine, I would add wasting my time on questions like this because I know I'm never going to need to answer them!
- If you could choose to work for any company in the world which would it be and why? I would work for any company as Michael Grade's PA.
- If you could turn the clock back, what would you have changed about your business career? I should not have listened to business fashion. I had an out of town business service centre, and a city centre office. A waste of resources.
- If you win the lottery tomorrow will you call it a day? No, and I wouldn't tell anyone I had won either.
- Are you always the last out of the building? No. Anyone who is in the offices at 5.45pm is there because they are waiting to grab a drink with their friends and not because they are working.
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