8 business lessons from rubbing shoulders with Ireland's top entrepreneurs

LAST YEAR WAS a rollercoaster for my company’s growth, as well as my personal growth as a businessman.

The two areas combined when I was fortunate enough to be shortlisted for the EY Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2016. That meant I was invited to attend the event’s CEO retreat to San Francisco, and I jumped at the chance.

It was a fascinating week where I got to learn from some of the top entrepreneurs in the country. Here are some of the key things I’ve picked up from my own journey as an entrepreneur and from talking and working with Ireland’s leading entrepreneurs:

1. Keep your eyes open for new opportunities

So many businesses are created out of existing consumer problems or gaps in the market and so many of the entrepreneurs I met believed they had identified an opportunity.

They knew they were onto something, so they chose to act. They are always keeping their eyes open for business opportunities.

One entrepreneur who epitomizes this is PCH’s Liam Casey, whose Highway1 hardware accelerator we visited in San Francisco. Over 20 years ago, Casey spotted an opportunity to help Western companies source parts from Asia.

What started as business in Cork in the 1990s has grown to a massive multinational operation with offices in Cork, Silicon Valley and China.

2. Agree upon the direction of your company at the start

So much of the advice given to me and my partner Andy from those who have been through it all before has been to be sure that we are lined up with each other before we progress in our vision.

We have been told that too often people have different ideas on where they saw the direction of their company going, and if we are not on the same page it might not end as well as we had hoped for.

3. Do what you love

The top entrepreneurs do what they love and pursue their hobbies. They don’t always need to have a plan about where it’s going to lead, but they enjoy the process

I love health and fitness. It was something I was truly passionate about before we launched Freshly Chopped and it continues to excite me every day.

This makes it so much easier for me to motivate myself to improve what we offer because I know that the things that I need and love my customers will too.

4. Believe in yourself

The best business people believe in their own strengths and abilities, no matter what expectations exist. Sometimes they must believe that they are able to see further into the future than those around them.

Many of those I met were told that what they wanted to do couldn’t be done, but they never question their own passion and ability to do things.

If you have the confidence in yourself, in where you are going and what you are trying to build, it will get you through tough times.

5. Accept your gaps in knowledge

No one is perfect, and everyone has areas they aren’t as strong in, no matter how successful they may be. The best business people are not afraid to admit they don’t know something.

Instead, they accept it, face reality and look to surround themselves with the best in the business. There is no greater sign of confidence than self-acceptance. I surround myself with the best advisors, from business advisors to the best staff to ensure that I succeed.

When I chose to go down the franchise route, I hired the most experienced and knowledgeable franchise consultant in the country to make sure we did it right.

I listen to everything that is said to me and apply the best advice to my business, especially in areas in which I’m not an expert.

6. Feel the fear and do it anyway

We all have fears, but if we learn to master them and our reactions to them, we get further in business.

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learnt is that fear never actually disappears, but that top business people let their fears act as warning signs that inspire them to leave no stone unturned and pay attention to every detail. They don’t let fear act as a barrier to doing something.

7. Create multiple ways to make money from one business

From my experience of meeting some of the top entrepreneurs in the country, the ones who succeeded the most are not the ones who have spread their portfolio from the very beginning but rather those who diversified their revenue streams from within their business.

They focused their growth on one business but realised the business is not solely dependent on one revenue stream to survive.

Multiple revenue streams allow businesses to grow despite trends in consumer behavior, demand or changes in the economy.

A lot of retail outlets are good examples of this. Although they might just look like shops, they are clever real estate businesses. A lot of retailers are the largest real estate owners in the world.

The business goal is to be profitable stores, but their revenue is complimented with real estate strategies that can survive a bad sales year.

8. Learn from the past

What is so inspiring about some of Ireland’s top entrepreneurs is that some of them have had epic failures. They don’t let these failures stop them but they do take the lessons learnt from their mistakes forward into their future ventures.

They have learned that what you might think is the end of the world might turn out to be the best thing that ever happened to you. They know that in business you may not win the first time, but the harder you work the better you become and the more lessons you learn.

They welcome detours and failures as a natural part of the journey they are on. Their mistakes have built their character and made them better, more rounded individuals. They always make sure to look back on their mistakes and learn from them.

Brian Lee is the co-founder of Freshly Chopped.

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