Students get business tips from new Prof Ken

what they wanted to achieve and how to reach their goal.

Mr Davy stressed the importance of the subconscious mind.

“You can learn to be an entrepreneur,” he said. “Though you can’t actually control your subconscious mind, you can train it and programme it so you can think like an entrepreneur.

“The result is that you will start to see a world bursting with opportunity, where anything can be achieved if you are prepared to pay the price in terms of effort and commitment. An entrepreneur really does see the world differently because they are programmed for success.”

While qualities such as willpower were important, said Mr Davy, imagination was the most important factor.

Mr Davy drew on his own career – including challenges and setbacks – to illustrate his case. Prof Ken Davy (right), who has been appointed Visiting Professor of Entrepreneurship at the University of Huddersfield, pictured with university vicechancellor Prof Bob Cryan

His successful enterprises include the financial services company DBS, which he took from start-up to a full Stock Exchange listing – and now SimplyBiz, the UK’s largest provider of support to financial services professionals.

“If it’s not impossible, it must be possible,” he said, adding that the goal of his lecture was to show “how you can turn that powerhouse of your subconscious mind into one that works for you.”