Keith Thomas: The Successful Entrepreneur Recipe

Failure is often hard to hear about, but Thomas argues that it’s a defining moment for the entrepreneur. It can help them decide whether it makes sense for them to continue – like it was for him – or to decide that entrepreneurship is not for them, not necessarily because it didn’t make enough or had that great impact, but because “it did not make you excited to go to work every single day.”

“Not everyone is made to be an entrepreneur. Same as not everyone is made to be a doctor or lawyer. And that’s okay.”

Choose Wisely

At the end of the day entrepreneurship is all about the person, what they want out of life, what kind of work they want to do, where they want to be in ten years.

“Whatever you decide to do becomes your lifestyle, so if you have a lot of ideas and drive then you can push forward,” advises Thomas.

Thomas adds that, “some of the best entrepreneurs I’ve seen are those who just know how to get in there. Quite often they’re not the A students or the B students; they’re the C students, but they’re good at networking and reading people. They may not be book smart but are very street smart.”

It’s a complicated recipe: ideas, cash and drive. Add to that will, want, dreams, intuition, knowledge, skill and ambition. With all that in hand, maybe entrepreneurship can work for you.

Fatima Syed is an aspiring journalist studying English and International Relations at U of T. An idealist at heart, her dreams involve finding a better tomorrow and seeing the world. In the meantime she reads obsessively, rants frequently, analysis everything and lives the best she can. You can follow me on LinkedIn (http://ca.linkedin.com/pub/fatima-syed/60/999/586 or Twitter (@fatimasyed401)