After 28 years, he and a friend saw an opportunity to buy into a small coffee shop chain. They opened branches in Australia. A few years later they were able to buy the brand and started opening coffee shops across the world.

It was called Gloria Jeans.

Last week, Peter Irvine was in Tamworth to share his story and his business tips to a men's dinner at Gregory's.

"Make sure you are listening to God", he urged. "God is not bound by the stock market.

"It's not over until He says it's over. There will be difficulties, but He will make a way.

"You don't need to know everything. You'll learn as you go. So keep learning. Read and listen. When you're listening and learning, you're growing.

"There's no point in having a business and not growing. If you stop going forwards, you'll start going backwards."

So is it OK for a Christian to own stuff?

"Yes", says Peter. "As long as your life is built around generosity. It's right for your business to be successful.

"If it isn't, you're letting your staff down. We're here to be generous and help people, but you can only be generous if you've got something to be generous with.

"We wanted Gloria Jeans to be a vehicle to grow God's Kingdom. We were able to support Teen Challenge and sponsor numerous Compassion kids."

"Life's a journey, not a destination", he says.

"Give your life to God. He can do far more with it than you can".