If you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will have to settle for the ordinary. To achieve the extraordinary, you need to have lots of guts, gumption and courage. And Mike Jatania of Lornamead Group certainly has it in abundance. The youngest of the four Jatania brothers and the public face of their business empire, Mike Jatania may not be a household name, but some of his brands certainly are. Like Harmony hairspray, Lipsyl lip balm, Gold Spot breath freshener, Natural White tooth whitener and Stergene fabric detergent. His company - Lornamead - and you can call it a junior Unilever.

In fact, it owns some of the Anglo-Dutch giant's castoffs, including the Harmony hair-care line. See what Forbes has to say about them: "For over a quarter-century Mike, 40, and his three older brothers have done deals from the street stalls of Africa to the office suites of Mayfair. Procter & Gamble and Unilever are their models." No doubt, the closely-held Lornamead is today valued at $1 billion by consultancy firm Brand Finance. Brothers Vin, Danny, George and Mike all have penthouse flats in the same block as their parents in London's Marble Arch. Jatania's father left Gujarat in the thirties and set up a trading company in Uganda. He came to Britain in the sixties before the big influx of Asians fleeing from Idi Amin.

The family motto is 'Let Dynasty not become Dallas'. It's a joking reference to the feuding families in the Eighties TV soap opera. "We are a business family, not a family business. The family is not involved in the day-to-day management. We provide long-term capital," says Jatania. "We recognise that the family can become your biggest strength or your biggest weakness. There has traditionally been a saying ' shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations'," he says. "We recognise that we can learn from the mistakes of other families. You need very good communications and very clear roles.

We have a formal family constitution." "My brothers and three sisters have all got kids. Some are interested in the business, but they are not forced into it. They will have to go and work outside and demonstrate their success, and then they can come. Just because they have the name Jatania, they will not automatically become the chief executive." Sound business sense. When Mike took over the business in 1995, the group had what he says was a "make a quick buck anywhere" mentality. He pruned the portfolio, selling unprofitable food brands to distributors and bulking up on personal care. And today, the Jatanias rank alongside the likes of Lakshmi Mittal. Thanks to the indomitable spirit and the risk-taking abilities of Mike Jatania, the group has stood the acid test of formidable competitions.