True entrepreneurs are supposed to shun imitation and try to be authentic and original. I’m not convinced this strategy generally makes commercial sense. Indeed, the merits of being a copycat are underrated.

After all, every business idea is derived from something that preceded it – what lawyers call prior art. The level of replication in any so-called new product or service is simply a matter of degree. Unless you specifically infringe a patent, design, trademark or copyright, or are very blatantly passing off your goods as if they were a rival’s, you can profitably rip off an idea.

As ever, it is execution that matters, not the idea. At PizzaExpress, a competitor called Pizzaland opened a branch with a similar appearance and menu to ours. We sued and lost the legal action – but won the war. Pizzaland was a poor experience, and in due course the brand disappeared – while PizzaExpress has doubled in size since.