Sahar is the woman who kicked off the coffee house revolution in the UK. She is also the author of motivational book, Anyone Can Do it, a title that sums up her life philosophy. But she didn't always possess entrepreneurial spirit.
"If anyone had asked me when I was younger if I was an entrepreneur I would have said 'no'," said Sahar. "Growing up, my image of an entrepreneur was someone like Richard Branson. I didn't make my first million selling sweets in the playground, so I didn't place myself in the same category."
Sahar followed a career that she thought would please other people - she became a solicitor.
"I was doing a job that didn't suit my personality. I was leaving 40% of myself at home every time I went to work. When I asked my colleagues why work wasn't more fun the reply was 'you're not being paid to enjoy yourself.'"
It was the premature death of Sahar's father in 1994 that forced her to reassess her life and take the decision to leave her job and visit her brother Bobby in New York. She had planned to use the time in America to reflect, but instead, the trip provided the inspiration that would make her a hugely successful entrepreneur.
While in New York Sahar discovered a coffee bar and fell in love with the range of lattes, cappuccinos and espressos available there, served with blueberry muffins by professional staff in modern uniforms.
During her time in New York, Sahar visited the café every day and found that when she returned home to London, she missed it. 
A casual remark to her brother when he returned to London, that she wished she could find a similar bar in London, started the ball rolling. Bobby recognised there was a gap in the market and suggested the two of them be the ones to fill it. Reticent at first, Sahar began to research the London market. She soon became convinced that the UK was ready for a New York-style coffee bar.
The first 19 bank managers the pair visited looking for a £90,000 loan were not so easily convinced, however. "They asked me why a nation of tea drinkers would want American coffee bars," said Sahar.
Fortunately, the 20th bank manager did share their vision and the pair opened the first Coffee Republic on South Molton Street in Mayfair.
One important piece of advice Sahar passed on to the HJ Business Live delegates was: "Don't be put off by a 'no'. People are always going to say 'no' - factor that in and there is no dream you can't accomplish."
Sahar also stressed that Coffee Republic was not an instant success. "It takes 15 years to become an overnight success," she said. "We needed to turn over £700 per day to break even and for the first six months we were only taking £200. When you start something new, you have to factor in the fact that customers don't like change initially."
Customer came around, however, and in 1996 the pair opened their second store and by 1997 the number of outlets had risen to seven.
It was in 2001, with the Coffee Republic empire totalling 110 outlets and turning over £30 million, that Sahar decided she wanted to sell."I was beginning to feel like an over-protective parent and decided it was time to sell my shares in the company," she recalls.
The morning after she and Bobby had signed on the dotted line, however, she realised she had made a terrible mistake.
"It was like bereavement," Sahar told delegates.
There was no looking back, however, and following her foray into publishing, Sahar turned her entrepreneurial skills to confectionery with the launch of Skinny Candy, a range of healthy sweets and cakes.
Whether this brand will revolutionise confectionery in the same way that Coffee Republic did coffee bars remains to be seen, but if anyone can do it, Sahar can - and according to Sahar, so could anyone.
