Acknowledgements

Writing a book, like running a business, is a team effort. I wish to acknowledge the help and support of everyone who has played a part in turning the idea for this book into the reality of what you are now holding in your hands. Particular thanks must go to the following:

My publisher, Mary Feehan, and your team at Mercier Press – Deirdre Roberts, Noel O’Regan, Sarah O’Flaherty, Patrick O’Donoghue and Wendy Logue – for believing in the book from the very outset and for your support and encouragement throughout. You are true professionals.

Best-selling author and journalist Emily Hourican for doing the initial edit and helping me reduce the word count of my initial draft without losing any of the important content from the contributors. You are a pleasure to work with.

The entrepreneurs whose interviews and stories are the heart of this book. You are exemplary role models to all of us and I want to acknowledge you for your willingness to be included in this book and for the honest and frank nature of your sharing, which makes these stories so insightful and inspiring.

The hundreds of other entrepreneurs that I have interviewed over the past five years. Your stories are equally inspiring and were it not for the need to keep this book to a required length, I would have happily included every one of them.

The Sunday Independent and the staff and management at INM for your willingness to allow me to update the original stories that appeared in the paper and include them here. Thank you too for the opportunity to contribute to the paper over the past five years. It has been a wonderful experience working with you and for that I am extremely grateful.

The many entrepreneurs and business owners with whom I have worked, invested in or mentored over the past twenty-five years. I salute you for your great courage in doing what you do and I acknowledge all that I have learnt from you. You have been as much my coaches and mentors as I have been yours.

Larry Bass from ShinAwiL for the opportunity to be part of Dragons’ Den (Shark Tank in the US) and for the many positive experiences and opportunities that followed as a result.

Jack Canfield, America’s No. 1 Success Coach and world renowned author of The Success Principles, the Chicken Soup for the Soul® series and countless other best-selling books. Thank you for your wisdom, your authenticity and for being such an encouraging mentor and friend.

Derek Roddy for our enduring friendship over the last twenty years and for being an exceptional business partner in Smarthomes for over a decade. Your honesty, focus and problem-solving abilities are unmatched.

Colm Piercy, my long-time friend and business partner in Clyde Real Estate. Your business acumen, entrepreneurial expertise and big picture thinking are awesome.

Cathal Lee for your friendship and guidance in the area of communications. Gerry Carolan for ensuring that I got to all the interview locations in this book on time.

My brother-in-law, Bernard O’Connor, for reviewing the initial draft of this book and for sharing your many helpful insights.

My siblings, Gerry, Breda and Noeleen, and all my friends, way too many to mention here, for your constant love, loyalty and support.

Finally, my wife, Trish – an amazingly authentic, loving and supportive partner. I thank you for your patience, unwavering love and support during the writing of this book (and indeed all the many other projects I have been engrossed in over the years). For putting up with long absences, missed holidays and for me not being present even when I have been around. You and our children, Bobby and Lucy, inspire me more than anything else and make it all worthwhile. I feel grateful and truly blessed to have you in my life.

Foreword

Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.

Harry S. Truman

I am delighted to introduce this book to you. Written by my good friend Sean Gallagher, it contains many valuable lessons about what it takes to become successful – not only in business but also in life.

It is now more than forty years since I first began teaching on the topic of what makes people successful. Like many of you reading this book, my life started out in a very average way, without wealth or privilege. I worked part-time jobs to make my way through school and college until I became a high school teacher. When I later met my mentor, the self-made multi-
millionaire W. Clement Stone, he hired me to work in his foundation and trained me in the fundamental principles of success. Applying these principles in my own life has enabled me to enjoy phenomenal levels of success, fame, wealth and happiness.

But these principles and techniques have not only worked for me; they have also worked for the many hundreds of thousands of people I have taught around the world through my books, speeches, seminars and workshops.

What I have learned is that success leaves clues. Anyone can learn to become successful so long as they understand and apply key principles and techniques, such as those used by the successful entrepreneurs in this book. Like a combination lock, once you discover the right numbers you can achieve whatever you want in life. The principles work but only if you are willing to work them.

I first had the pleasure of meeting Sean when he attended one of my seminars in Dublin’s Mansion House in 2008. Like many others he stood in line to meet me after the event and I signed his copy of my book The Success Principles: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be. I was immediately taken by Sean’s positivity, his engaging nature and his commitment to coaching and mentoring others – especially those in small and medium-sized businesses.

Like all entrepreneurs, Sean is also a man of action. Soon he was on a plane to the US to take part in my five-day intensive ‘Breakthrough to Success’ event in Phoenix, Arizona. Over the next few years, I personally mentored Sean and was delighted when he completed my ‘Success Principles Train the Trainer Programme’, so that he, too, could teach the lessons I spent decades learning.

In recent years, Sean has joined me in facilitating my week-long private retreats in Europe and the US, where he draws on his diverse and extensive business experience to help mentor and coach those looking to take their lives and their businesses to the next level. A gifted leader and trainer, Sean’s natural and authentic style make him a powerful force when it comes to empowering others to achieve their personal and professional goals. His work in compiling these inspiring stories into a book for others to learn from is an example of his heartfelt desire to help others.

So whether you are an existing business owner or an aspiring entrepreneur, there is much that you can learn from the lessons shared by the successful entrepreneurs featured in this book.

Success, however, takes time, effort and perseverance. The motivational philosopher Jim Rohn put it well when he said, ‘You can’t hire someone else to do your push-ups for you.’

As writers and coaches our job is to provide you with the principles for success, a road map and an invitation to step into your own greatness. It is up to you to apply these in your own life, so that you too can achieve the results you desire.

I encourage you to believe in yourself, and armed with all that you will learn in this book, I invite you to pursue your dreams with confidence, vigour and determination.

To your success,

Jack Canfield.

(New York Times best-selling author of Chicken Soup for the Soul® and The Success Principles, and America’s #1 Success Coach)

Introduction

Welcome. If you have bought this book or perhaps been given it by a friend, family member or work colleague, then it is likely that you have an interest in business.

If you are someone who runs your own business, whether a hair salon in Manchester, a construction company in Sydney, or a hi-tech start-up in Dublin or San José, then you will know all too well the satisfaction this brings. But equally, you will know the constant challenges you face and the loneliness that is often part of the journey.

Perhaps you are someone who has long craved – even obsessed over – the idea of one day owning your own business, but haven’t, up to now, known where to start, or had the courage to take that important first step.

Maybe you are a student who is reflecting on what to do with your life. Wondering which of the many career options to pursue. Trying all the while to weigh up what will provide you with a living and at the same time bring you joy and fulfilment. Wondering, above all, what will make your heart sing.

Well, this book is for you.

Even if you work for a large corporate organisation, government department or multinational company, there is much you can learn from the stories in this book that can help in building a culture of creativity, innovation and enterprise within your organisation.

Drawn from articles written for the Sunday Independent (Ireland’s largest newspaper) over the past five years, this book is a compilation of inspiring stories of successful Irish entrepreneurs and business leaders. Representing a variety of sectors and located in different parts of Ireland, their stories are as diverse and as interesting as the businesses they lead. They are, for the large part, ordinary men and women. One thing they all share, though, is that they have dared to dream. But more than dream, they have taken action. They have stepped out from the crowd and from the familiarity that is their comfort zone. And they have triumphed.

Now more than ever, as we emerge from one of the worst recessions the world has ever experienced, it is important that we acknowledge and celebrate the vital role that entrepreneurs and business-builders play in our society. They are the unsung heroes who, through their risk-taking and ingenuity, create jobs. They are the driving force behind our economies and the glue that helps hold our communities together.

You may wonder what you can learn from these stories about Irish entrepreneurs. As you are about to discover, Ireland is a hotbed of entrepreneurial activity. Its can-do attitude and progressive mindset supports a thriving start-up culture that is creating economic activity far beyond what would normally be expected from a small island on the edge of the Atlantic. A hub for foreign direct investment, Ireland’s performance is unrivalled, with more than 1,200 companies, from true global giants to the hottest names in everything from IT, life sciences and finance having already chosen Ireland as their strategic European base.

Having travelled extensively as a long-term student and now trainer in the areas of success, positivity and entrepreneurship, I am convinced that what can be learned from Ireland’s microcosm of entrepreneurial endeavour can be applied anywhere in the world.

Contained within these stories are valuable lessons that each entrepreneur shares about their journey from start-up to success. We learn about their backgrounds and what shaped them, how they came up with their killer business idea, as well as the significant challenges that confronted them along the way. We learn too that while they have enjoyed the sweet taste of victory, all, without exception, have known times of bitter defeat.

But above all else, we learn that it has been their incredible tenacity and resilience that has helped them turn obstacles into opportunities and adversity into success. Perhaps their greatest achievement, though, is that by their very example they inspire the rest of us to pursue our own dreams.

I hope that you will find their stories as enjoyable to read as I have found them to write. I hope too that they will help demonstrate just how powerful an idea can be. How important is it to believe in yourself, and how an indomitable spirit – combined with unwavering determination – can help make dreams come true.

Chapter 1 Why Entrepreneurs are Important

The Power to Change the World

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.

George Bernard Shaw

I have chosen not to write this book as a how-to guide to starting or running a successful company. This is because I have found that information alone is seldom enough to change our human behaviour. If it were, we would all be living healthy and balanced lives. Most of us do not need more information – we need more inspiration.

Each of the entrepreneurs featured in this book has an inspiring story to share. Woven into their stories are their individual whys – what motivates them to do what they do. Some started their businesses because they were made redundant, others because they had a vision of something they wanted to create or a passion for something they loved to do. Others are family businesses passed on from one generation to the next.

One thing is certain in business; no one ever starts a big company. Each of the businesses here started out small and, through hard work, perseverance and the occasional helping of good luck, grew to where they are today.

My reason for writing this book and for sharing these stories is to help others realise that – irrespective of where we come from, our age, gender or educational background – we all have within us the ability to achieve whatever we set our minds to.

Over the last twenty-five years I have become an avid supporter and champion of entrepreneurship. Throughout that time, I have trained, mentored or invested in hundreds of emerging businesses, have founded a number of successful businesses in the consulting, technology and real estate sectors, and, for the past five years, have interviewed more than 250 successful entrepreneurs for my weekly newspaper column. During that time, I have come to realise that these entrepreneurs all share common traits that have helped them become successful. Importantly, too, I have come to understand that these same traits can be developed and nurtured in those seeking to follow in their footsteps.

What excites me most about entrepreneurs is that they have the power to literally change the world for the better. They create jobs, transform communities, drive economic growth and tackle global challenges. From the founders of exciting start-ups to the leaders of global businesses, entrepreneurs are constantly seeking out new ideas and new ways to push the boundaries of possibilities. In doing so, they draw on their optimism, creativity and their determination to improve both their own lives and the lives of those they serve.

Entrepreneurs are visionaries who see the future and then work to create it. Their only limit is their own imagination. They are the dreamers and the trailblazers, the ones drawing their own maps and making their own rules. We can all think of well-known examples, such as Bill Gates of Microsoft, Steve Jobs of Apple, Mark Zuckerburg of Facebook or Sir Richard Branson of Virgin, whose products and services impact the lives of millions of people around the world on a daily basis. However, in every corner of every country in the world there are countless other, less well-known entrepreneurs who have dedicated their lives and their talents to coming up with solutions to many of the world’s problems. Together, they are developing and bringing to the market everything from electric cars and solar energy products to breakthrough drugs and medical devices that are literally saving millions of lives.

We may have a tendency to take for granted some of the products and services we use every day. What of the local hotelier, neighbourhood shop owner or car mechanic who all run their own businesses? Or the farmers who grow the food we eat. They too are entrepreneurs. How would those of us who live in cities and towns ever manage to feed ourselves and our families if it weren’t for their effort and their enterprising spirit.

While the priority for entrepreneurs must be to ensure the survival and long-term sustainability of their businesses, many are driven not by the desire to make money but by the desire to make a difference.

Creating Jobs and Generating Wealth
Through Taxes

If we want to live in a society that is both caring and economically sustainable, we need to invest in building schools for our young people, hospitals for our sick and elderly, and roads and other critical infrastructure. We also need to provide support to those who cannot find work or who, for one reason or another, are not able to work. In short, we need to make sure that no one gets left behind.

To achieve this, governments everywhere need money and lots of it. Most of this money comes by way of taxes, whether income tax, value-added tax (VAT) or corporation tax. But who creates this wealth in the first place? And how is it created?

In addition to large multinationals and corporations, wealth is created by business owners and entrepreneurs who – through their own ingenuity, risk-taking and hard work – start businesses. In the process of manufacturing their products or delivering their services, these business owners hire staff to whom they pay wages. Of these wages, in many cases almost half goes straight to the government in the form of taxes. Furthermore, most of the goods and services that these businesses sell have VAT or other taxes attached to them, and that money also goes directly to government. If, after all their hard work and effort, entrepreneurs actually end up making a profit, then that too is taxed.

Whatever disposable income employees have left over at the end of the month is largely spent on paying mortgages on their homes, buying food for their families, providing education for their children, as well as being spent in local shops, bars and restaurants within their communities, thereby helping to support other businesses and maintain the jobs of their employees.

And therein continues the circular flow of money.

Many people forget that ultimately it is our entrepreneurs and business builders who actually generate much of the wealth that goes to fund public services and to keep society and our economies functioning effectively.

In short, the more entrepreneurs we have, the more jobs are created. And the more jobs we have, the more revenue governments have to spend on essential services.

Opportunities for Personal Fulfilment
and Economic Independence

As well as realising their own dreams and ambitions, entrepreneurs create opportunities for others to fulfil their potential. There are many who do not wish to be self-employed but who do wish to work. Through the jobs that entrepreneurs create, they give others the opportunity to use their skills and talents to make a contribution to society. In turn, the salaries they receive enable them to provide a good and secure standard of living for themselves and their families. Their children grow up in an environment where they have positive role models and where they are encouraged and supported to pursue their own career aspirations. In short, employment is the only real and long-term solution to poverty, disadvantage and social exclusion.

The Glue that Holds Communities Together

Communities and businesses are so inextricably intertwined that neither can exist without the other. In every town, village and rural community across the world, entrepreneurs and business owners can be found running every conceivable type of business. They do so in locations where large multinational firms never can. These businesses depend on their local community for business as well as to provide employees. The communities in which they are located rely on them in turn for employment – the type of jobs that are grounded and rooted in these local areas. Without them, there would be terrible repercussions. Local people would be forced to emigrate or move to larger cities in search of work. Shops would close. The local post office and local school would close. Football clubs and other sporting organisations would struggle to field teams. And the older population would face the prospect of being left behind, alone and isolated.

Keeping communities alive, however, requires that we invest in them. It means encouraging and supporting more entrepreneurs to set up businesses and to create more jobs in these areas. If we can achieve this, we can help stem the flow of young people from their communities and help retain a vibrancy that might otherwise be extinguished.

Moreover, entrepreneurs and business owners everywhere generously give back to their communities. Many like to support the area in which they grew up or where they initially started their businesses. Most have active corporate social responsibility practices where they support sporting, charity, educational or community-based initiatives. Without their philanthropic support, many of these initiatives simply could not continue to exist.

Given the important role entrepreneurs play in the world and in their local communities, it is time now that we acknowledge and recognise their contribution.

But what is it that makes these entrepreneurs successful?

Chapter 2 Success Leaves Clues

– The Top Ten Traits of Successful Entrepreneurs

If you are not willing to learn, no one can help you. If you are determined to learn, no one can stop you.

Zig Ziglar, American author and motivational speaker

There has been much debate over the years as to whether entrepreneurs are born or whether, instead, it is possible to teach someone to become an entrepreneur. Research the subject and you soon discover that there are as many answers as there are people who write on the subject. In reality, there may not be a simple answer to this enduring question.

What is clear, however, is that deciding to launch a business takes courage. And managing its growth requires a combination of the right skill set and the right mindset. The good news is that, in my experience, this skill set can be learned and this mindset developed.

The Essential Steps to Setting Up
and Growing a Successful Business

Running a business is not rocket science. People of all ages, backgrounds and nationalities do it. Put simply, it is a process – a complex one, but a process none the less. Each step in this process is important and has the potential to either contribute to the advancement of the business or its ultimate demise. And each one could in its own right fill the syllabus of a lengthy college degree.

While it is not the intention of this book to go into these steps in great detail, here are some of the most important ones:

1) Identify a need or gap in the market.

2) Develop a product or service that meets that need and for which a sufficient number of customers are willing to pay.

3) Be able to sell your product or service at a price that not only covers your costs but also generates enough profit to enable you to reinvest in growing your business.

4) Find the fastest and most effective route to market and then build a brand that outlines your value proposition and how your business will be perceived in the market.

5) Hire motivated and talented staff who are committed to your company’s vision and then align their individual roles and behaviours to your company’s objectives.

6) Ensure you have sufficient capital to set up the business in the first place and enough working capital to support it through its continued expansion.

7) Have systems in place to collect any debt that is owed to you and to make sure you pay whatever debt you owe to your creditors.

8) Protect any intellectual property you have developed within the business to safeguard against ‘copycat’ or ‘me too’ competitors.

9) Constantly innovate so that you stay relevant to the market and to changing trends and evolving customer preferences.

10) Finally, increase the size and scale of your business, through either organic growth or through merging with or acquiring other similar or related businesses, until you reach a point where you are satisfied – or until you decide to exit by way of sale, merger or initial public offering (IPO).

All sounds fairly straightforward, doesn’t it?

While many of the above steps require knowledge and skills to execute effectively, these can either be learned by an entrepreneur or acquired by hiring the services of those who already possess them – such as employees, contractors or external consultants. You may even wish to partner with someone who already has the skills that you lack.

The challenge for most founders in launching their businesses is that they are undertaking many of these steps for the very first time. It is for this reason that serial entrepreneurs often find it easier to start new businesses or secure financial backing for their ideas, as they have already mastered the process.

The Mindset and the Psychology of Success

It has been my experience that success in business has less to do with intelligence and more to do with psychology. For that reason, school or college results alone are not the best predictor of entrepreneurial capabilities. There are any number of examples of entrepreneurs who didn’t go to college or who left school early and still went on to be successful. At its core, success is about the ability to recognise a good opportunity when you see it and then to pursue it with drive, focus and determination.

But there are also a number of other traits and characteristics that are to be found in nearly all successful entrepreneurs. The following are ten of these top traits and while they are not, of course, a definitive list of the make-up of every entrepreneur, they can certainly be found in those who you will read about later in this book.

1. They have a Belief in Themselves and are Optimistic by Nature

A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity. An optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.

Sir Winston Churchill

Entrepreneurs are natural optimists. They expect things to work out and have a tendency to look for the positive in any situation. They focus on solutions and see opportunities where others see only problems. Their language is always about what they can do, not what they can’t. They see setbacks as opportunities to learn and obstacles as something to be got around rather than a reason to give up.

Entrepreneurs have no more control over their environment or situation than anyone else, but what they do have is a belief in themselves and their ability to respond to whatever challenges arise. In short, entrepreneurs tend not to worry overly about the future because they are too busy creating it.

2. They have a Positive Attitude to Risk and Failure

A ship in harbour is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.

John A. Shedd, American author and professor

Many people long for the security of a guaranteed monthly pay cheque or a permanent and pensionable job. However, for the entrepreneur, the very idea of being constrained by the predictability that some jobs impose can be terrifying. Entrepreneurs long for a world of adventure where they are free to pursue their goals, implement their ideas and follow their dreams.

They accept, too, that risk is a natural part of this process and that the degree to which they succeed will be proportionate to the degree to which they are willing to fail. The higher the risk, the greater the potential reward. Moreover, while they do not wish to fail, they know that – should it happen – they will find a way to embrace such failure and turn it into a valuable source of learning.

3. They are Visionaries and Strategists

Effort and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.

John F. Kennedy

Entrepreneurs usually start out with a compelling vision and a sense of clarity about what it is they want to achieve. They see gaps in the market that they believe they can fill. Most will build their businesses around solving problems, either their own or other people’s. Their vision is often to create something bigger and more enduring than themselves. They see this as an opportunity for them to make their mark in or contribution to the world.

While they have the capacity to see the bigger picture, entrepreneurs are not simply dreamers. They know how to develop a strategy to take their idea from concept to launch – and beyond. They know what resources to marshal. And they know how to lead others. Their sense of purpose and passion inspires action and loyalty in those around them.

4. They are Excellent Communicators and Storytellers

The goal is to provide inspiring information that moves people to action.

Guy Kawasaki, author, speaker, entrepreneur and evangelist

Successful entrepreneurs are good communicators. Some may be evangelical about their message while others are more low-key. All, however, understand that to succeed they must engage and enrol key stakeholders in helping them to achieve their ambition – from their employees and customers to their investors. Most will seek to involve these stakeholders in decision-making processes in the certain knowledge that people will best support that which they help to create.

Many increasingly draw on the power of storytelling to connect, not only with the intellect of their audiences, but also with their emotions. They use stories as a way to tap into their audience’s hopes and fears as well as their aspirations. And they find ways to distil their message into absorbable bite-sized pieces on the understanding that such messages must first be understood before they can be championed.

5. They Take Action

You will never plough a field by turning it over in your mind.

Old Irish Proverb

Entrepreneurs are goal-focused and target-driven. Not content to sit around talking and planning, they are eager to take action. The more they act, the more confident they become in themselves, and the more they empower and inspire others around them.

They have also learned the art of goal setting. They realise that what they want usually exists on the other side of their comfort zone and so their goals involve a significant stretch for themselves, their teams and their companies.

Once committed to an idea, they are also willing to make major sacrifices in terms of time, resources, personal relationships and sometimes even their health. To others this may look like obsession rather than commitment, but to the entrepreneur it is as if they feel compelled to see their idea through to completion.

6. They are Great Leaders

Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.

Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric

After setting up their businesses, entrepreneurs quickly discover that their roles change. They find themselves managing people, often for the first time. They realise the importance of developing a company culture that supports the development of their staff. And, as additional layers of middle management are introduced, they finally get to adopt a more strategic leadership role where they can begin to work on their business rather than in their business.

Most will come to the realisation, too, that management is different to leadership. The distinction, as management consultant Peter Drucker put it, is that: ‘Management is about doing things right whereas leadership is about doing the right things.’

However, few entrepreneurs ever start a business properly trained or adequately prepared for their newly acquired leadership roles. Over time, most will develop their own distinct approach and authentic style of leadership. The wise ones will go on to invest in their own development, study leadership techniques and bolster this with a mix of advisors, non-executive directors and mentors.

7. They are Good Networkers and Excellent Team Builders

You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.

Jim Rohn, entrepreneur, author and motivational speaker

Entrepreneurs are a tribe. They are drawn to others like themselves, where they feel supported and understood. They enjoy being around other like-minded, outward-looking and forward-focused business leaders. They regularly benchmark themselves against others, less for the purpose of competition and more as a motivation to do better.

They are smart people. Smart enough to understand that they can never grow or scale a business on their own. Many are generalists who play to their personal strengths and hire others who have skills and core competencies in areas where they do not.

They know too that the size of their network matters. They join networking groups or membership organisations, and go to conferences and trade shows in an effort to learn, to look for new opportunities and to extend their reach.

They are not afraid to ask for help – even the really successful ones – and most are equally happy to give such help and advice to other business-owners or would-be entrepreneurs.

8. They are Willing to Embrace Innovation and Change

It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but rather the one most adaptable to change.

Charles Darwin

Most people do not like change. Instead, they prefer the comfort that comes from certainty and predictability. However, we are now living in a time of unprecedented change, where entire industries are being disrupted and whole sectors turned on their head. Over the next twenty years, many of the young people of today will be working in jobs not yet created and in industries not yet conceived.

Entrepreneurs realise that to succeed, not only do they need to be comfortable with change, but they need to be the drivers of that change. They understand the need to constantly innovate or run the risk of being left behind and becoming irrelevant. They have a willingness to embrace experimentation and risk possible mistakes in the certain knowledge that their failure to innovate – if not pursued – may turn out to be their greatest mistake.

9. They are Committed to Continuous and Never-ending Improvement

When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better, too.

Paulo Coelho

Successful entrepreneurs, by their nature, are committed to what the Japanese call kaizen, meaning continuous and never-ending improvement. This applies not only to their businesses but also to themselves. They know that to do better, they have to be better. They are committed to investing in their personal development as well as constantly seeking new ways of improving everything they do. They do courses, attend seminars and hire mentors and coaches. Some join mastermind or peer-to-peer support groups, while others work regularly with accountability partners, holding each other accountable for achieving the goals they have set for themselves and their companies.

And they understand that, while they have many competitors in their businesses, their greatest competition is always against themselves – doing better today than they did yesterday.

10. They Persevere

Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go.

William Feather, American author

Entrepreneurs typically have as many fears and insecurities as everyone else. However, they possess an unwavering determination to see things through. They are tenacious and often uncompromising. Even in the face of obstacles that, to others, may seem almost insurmountable, they find the inner strength and conviction to push ahead relentlessly. They hang on when lesser mortals, maybe even wiser ones, might have let go.

They may adapt their dreams, update them, even suspend them for a period, but they are seldom prepared to abandon them. It is often such resilience and determination that leads them to ultimate success.

3 The Will to Succeed

Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared to believe that something inside of them was superior to circumstance.

Bruce Barton, American author, businessman and politician

While all entrepreneurs may have certain traits that help them become successful, the environment and culture to which they belong can also contribute to the realisation of their potential. Nowhere is this more evident than the island of Ireland, which has always succeeded in punching well above its weight when it comes to the world of business and entrepreneurship.

With just 4.8 million people living in the Republic of Ireland and a further 1.8 million in Northern Ireland, Ireland has a relatively small population compared to other countries and yet its global reach is immense, with an estimated 70 million people across the world claiming Irish ancestry, half of these in the US alone.

Irish people love to work. Entrepreneurial by nature, they have a work ethic that is second to none. Over the years, the country has produced many companies that now compete in the world of global business. Brand names such as Jameson Irish Whiskey, Guinness, Kerry Group, Glanbia, Smurfit Kappa, Primark, CRH, Ryanair and Alltech are famous the world over.

Ireland’s entrepreneurs, too, have proved themselves to be some of the smartest and most successful in the world in their chosen fields. Names such as Denis O’Brien of Digicel; Eugene and Gene Murtagh of Kingspan; J. P. McManus and John Magnier, racehorse owners with various property and business interests; Martin Naughton of Glen Dimplex; Sir Michael Smurfit of Smurfit Kappa; the late Tony Ryan, co-founder of Ryanair, and that firm’s CEO, Michael O’Leary; financier Dermot Desmond; Dr Pearse Lyons of AllTech; and brothers John and Patrick Collison of mobile payment firm, Stripe, who in 2016 became the world’s youngest ever self-made billionaires at the ages of twenty-six and twenty-eight respectively.

So what is it that makes this little island and its people so unique in the world of industry and enterprise?

Having faced centuries of occupation, repression and economic hardship, which has seen millions of the population forced to scatter to the four corners of the globe in search of a better life, the Irish have developed a spirit of resilience and self-determination. Perhaps it is this background of adversity that has helped give Irish people their can-do attitude and a propensity for innovation. They know that if they want success they have to earn it and pursue opportunity where they find it, whether in Ireland or in one of the many countries that the Irish diaspora has spread to.

Like many other countries around the world, Ireland suffered badly as a result of the economic crash of 2008. This, together with the collapse of the banking system and the country’s over-reliance on the construction sector, resulted in hundreds of thousands of jobs being lost and the floodgates of emigration flung open once more. However, drawing on their innate strength of character, Irish people dug deep to endure a long period of sustained government cutbacks and austerity measures. Thanks to their enduring spirit, a thriving SME sector and the presence of over 1,200 foreign direct investment or multinational firms, Ireland not only survived the recent downturn but has once again begun to flourish. Now, a decade on, the country is fast approaching full employment and has regained its position as the fastest growing economy in the European Union.

With a first-class educational system, Ireland continues to produce highly educated, creative and resourceful individuals who are recognised around the world for their adaptability and creativity. This island economy also attracts gifted and resourceful immigrants to its shores, creating a multi-cultural melting pot of talent that has attracted levels of foreign direct investment (FDI) far beyond what might be expected of a country of its size. In fact, Ireland is the second most attractive country globally for FDI – after Singapore – with true global giants and the hottest names in everything from IT, life sciences and finance having chosen the country as their strategic base or European headquarters.

Apart from this strong multinational sector, Ireland continues to have a vibrant and export-led indigenous sector. According to the country’s Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures, there are nearly 249,000 active businesses in Ireland, an astonishing number considering the size of the country. Of these 99.8% are small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which together employ almost 970,000 people or 69.1% of all those employed in business in Ireland. These are the backbone of the Irish economy and key to the country’s economic future. A thriving start-up culture supported by an active investment community and an attractive range of government-backed incentives, continues to result in approximately 35,000 people becoming new business owners each year according to Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Ireland figures.

Every entrepreneur the world over has their own compelling reason for wanting to start their own business and their own unique vision for what it is they want to achieve. For Irish entrepreneurs in particular, it is their unique heritage and history that helps give them the drive, the imagination and the tenacity to follow their dreams.

Before sharing the stories of some of Ireland’s most inspiring entrepreneurs, first let me share my own story and what led me to write this book.

About the Publisher

Acknowledgements

Foreword

Introduction

PART I

Chapter 1

Why Entrepreneurs are Important

Chapter 2

Success Leaves Clues

– The Top Ten Traits of Successful Entrepreneurs

3

The Will to Succeed