As a bloke I struggle to understand women’s obsession with shoes, and I struggle to understand their obsession with shoes they can’t actually walk in, even more. When Mike Horan was forced to carry his girlfriend because her stiletto’s were too uncomfortable for the walk home after a night out, he had a brain wave – rollup shoes which could be stored in a handbag and pulled out when function became more important than form.

Five years later Rollasole shoes are available in the likes of Debenhams, House of Fraser and Selfridges, and Horan has a successful business. It hasn’t all been plain sailing, but the rewards are now coming through…and all because he identified a personal problem and decided to do something about it.

The next time something annoys you, rather than complain, try to figure out if there’s a product which could solve the problem. For every unsolved problem there is a lucrative business opportunity waiting to be discovered.