For a self-confessed former chartered accountant, Graham Beswick, 44, is very lively indeed. Possibly because, instead of doggedly pursuing accountancy, he had a blinding revelation in his late twenties that shot him down a rather more exotic path: serial entrepreneurship. And, like many successful people, it was a thump on the corporate ceiling when trying to rise upwards that led him to work for himself.

His British boss recommended him for promotion, but the US vetoed it on the grounds that, not only did he have the bare-faced cheek to be British, he was also only 29. At the same time, he noticed that his boss, who'd been in the film business for 15 years, and earned masses, was still miserable.

'I was only ever going to earn what other people deemed my job to be worth,' he explains. 'My earning capacity was controlled by people I had never met.'

Beswick has the type of personality that cannot stand restrictions. Resigning, he decided never to be an employee again. An opportunity arose with an artificial intelligence company - Beswick had used some software 'correctly, the way it should be done' previously, which impressed the firm that developed it.

The company invited him to join them – but he insisted on being a partner, not an employee. It was risky, but he was without dependents, and totally broke for the first 18 months. 'Nice car, nice suit, smiley face,' he says. But no lunch or dinner. His partner didn't get it and left him, and he found himself having to 'bite the bullet and learn to sell' for the first time. 'Being an English person, it was quite uncomfortable,' he says. 'But it was the only way I was going to eat.'

The turning point came in a wet and depressing petrol station at the bottom of the M1. Did he put petrol in the car, or did he just give up and go and have something to eat?

Petrol won, and he drove three and a half hours up to Manchester for a sales appointment with 'a horrid arrogant sales manager' who had forgotten he was coming and said he could only give him two minutes.

Beswick's sales training kicked in with the three vital questions: 'What do you want? When do you want it? How much are you prepared to spend?' Three hours later the deal was done and Beswick was on his way. The first £1 million followed within a couple of years, through 'pure graft and sales'. Then, through an 'odd series of events' he then bought a business network, a subsidiary of the Daily Telegraph.

That set him on course to be the business angel he is today. In those days, the whole concept had hardly kicked off and it was very tough, as it still is, he admits. 'Getting investment is like finding a wife,' he says. 'You might be fabulous and beautiful but I don't want to marry you this week. Come back in a year. It's a long, slow and difficult process.'

Ever the innovator, Beswick's company at that time was the 100th to have ecommerce online. This was more of a complication than a benefit as people in the 1990s did not like to give their credit card details online, so a call centre was needed to service the clients.

Called Business and Skills Direct, it developed mentoring relationships between business people and provided services. There were elements of sharing knowledge, and bartering for mutual benefit. He ended up selling it to the DTI, as the government was beginning to gear up to encourage entrepreneurs in any way it could. He was required to stay on as commercial director, but only lasted six months: 'I don't understand not-for-profit,' he says. 'It was all too worthy, there was too much fluff and not enough action.'

He turned to helping and mentoring businesses privately, and has given wings to over 40 companies since, none of which have ever lost money and some have been spectacular successes. One went from a £15,000 investment to over £1 million in under a year, another from £75,000 to £3 million in the same period.

'No one has ever invested in an idea,' he adds. 'Only ever in a management team. It is the people who make a business. A brilliant management team can sell anything.'

At the same time, the glamour of these success stories was attracting the attention of television companies, and Beswick and his associates were pitching formats to increase the visibility and attractiveness of entrepreneurs. In 2006, he appeared on Channel 4's Make Me a Million, in which three teams, consisting of someone with an idea and entrepreneurs, competed to see who could create the most successful business. Together with Leila Wilcox and Ivan Massow, Beswick helped Halos 'n' Horns to be first across the finishing line.

'I was the warehouseman on the TV!' he says delightedly. 'They said I could wear the bright orange jacket so I was happy as Larry!' Like all true business genii, he is willing to do anything to get the job done.

The kinds of businesses he has assisted range very widely - from a record label, a shoe designer, corporate design and brand consultancy through multi-media animation production, men's skincare, internet hardware development, internet communities, a satellite TV station and drink distribution. 'We had a bit of a sell out last year,' he says. Nine new business are now under his angel's wing, including Marque2, the high-end fractional car ownership business; Feonic, which can turn any surface into a speaker; another business with Wilcox providing medical travel insurance and, close to his heart, a new restaurant. 'I love restaurants,' he says.

With his partner, chef Michael Donnelly, he has launched Foxy's Roast and Grill in Hove, the first of a chain. It looks like heaven for carnivores, with steak sold by weight and cooked in front of you. With Donnelly, he is also doing up an ancient wattle and daub house in Cambridgeshire, with planning permission to turn it into a very innovative modern building with bed and breakfast and chef's kitchen – ideal as a TV location. 'Michael calls himself a celebrity chef already,' explains Beswick.

His aim is to help business flourish, whatever it takes. He has formed an advisory group called The Entrepreneurialists which includes Massow, with the aim of 'poking our noses into other peoples' businesses'. From an inventor or individual with flair, to venture capitalists looking to invest, Beswick is there to encourage, inform and educate.

What does the future hold? 'I always said I would get serious when I hit 45,' he says. 'I am quite excited by the second half.' Given the successes of the first, so are we.

www.foxysbrighton.com www.feonics.com www.angelis.