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What is the significance of instinct in business? Does a reliable gut feeling separate winners from losers? And is it the most valuable emotional tool any entrepreneur can possess?

My observations of successful company owners lead me to believe that a highly analytical attitude can be a drawback. At critical junctures in commercial life, risk-taking is more an act of faith than a carefully balanced choice. Frequently, such moments require decisiveness and absolute conviction above all else. There is simply no time to wait for all the facts, or room for doubt. A computer program cannot tell you how to invent and launch a new product . That journey involves too many unknowns, too much luck – and too much sheer intuition, rather than the infallible logic that machines deliver so well. As Chekhov said: “An artist’s flair is sometimes worth a scientist’s brains” – entrepreneurs need right-brain thinking.

When I have been considering whether to buy a company and what price to offer, I have been blinded too often by reams of due diligence from the accountants and lawyers. Usually it pays to stand back from such mountains of grey data and weigh up the really important issues – and decide how you feel about the opportunity.