As Duncan Bannatyne will tell you (and anyone else who’ll listen), it’s hard to get a job when you’ve got a criminal record.

So the obvious(ish) solution to getting your life on track is to become an entrepreneur: no interviews, no digging into your past, no need to prove your rehabilitation.

Well here’s just such a story from Duane Jackson, founder of accountancy software group, KashFlow. He fell in with the wrong crowd but turned it around after a brief stay in the slammer.

Now he’s contributing big time by creating wealth and employing people – good on him.

Tips from a dealer

Thought you couldn’t learn anything from a career criminal? Think again – drug dealers are businesses too and they have a lot in common with legit firms like yours and mine. Sales, customers, cash-flow, it’s all there. This article explains more.