Theo Paphitis attributes his success to his natural common sense, and his favourite motto is a famous business school motto: KISS: Keep It Simple Stupid. He has said that "There are three reasons to be in business. To make money, to have fun – and to make money."
Paphitis has been criticised for some of his views on business. In 2008 he was quoted by Kira Cochrane of The Guardian newspaper as saying that although women may refuse to take maternity leave, "their brains turn to mush" after the pregnancy and "they take three months off".[16]
Paphitis is a supporter of small businesses, and runs a weekly competition for local businesses to have their message retweeted through his Twitter account.[