Book excerpt: Deborah Meaden is known to millions for her straight-talking, no-nonsense approach on BBC2's Dragons' Den, and in Common Sense Rules she shares insights and observations gleaned from a life lived in business. Some of them come from witnessing the successes - and the failures - of others. Many more, though, are drawn from her own business ventures. She shows, for example, how an early stint in a holiday park gave her a crash course in customer relations. She frankly and honestly analyses why her first enterprise, which started so promisingly, turned sour. And she explains why turning down a multimillion-pound offer for her chain of holiday parks was the best decision she ever made. As direct and to-the-point on the page as she is in the Den, Deborah Meaden is a superbly clear-sighted and experienced observer of business success, and her book is guaranteed both to inform and inspire.