This years Spring Semester Skill Build sessions began with an inspirational talk from Dave Wickett on being an entrepreneur, and specifically his life as an entrepreneur.

Dave Wicket is a former economics, econometrics and maths lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University, then Sheffield Polytechnic. Dave’s life as an entrepreneur started in 1981 with the purchase of the Fat Cat Pub in the Kelham Island area of Sheffield. The Fat Cat was for a time the only pub in the City of Sheffield not owned by a major brewery. By the inclusion of a wide range of beers new to the area, and exclusion of music and electronic games to create an ambiance for conversation, the Fat Cat differentiated itself from the competition and became a huge success.

Despite the success Dave remained a lecturer until 1990 until the opening of the Kelham Island Brewery home of the 2004 champion beer of Great Britain Pale Rider. Dave’s new venture into the world of real ale brewing and the opening of a second bar, Champs Sports Bar on Eccleshall Road saw Dave become a full time entrepreneur.

Dave Wickett’s Qualities to be an Entrepreneur:

• Passion. Don’t enter a market that you don’t have a passion for.
• Confidence. Entering into a market with established incumbents you have to be confident you can do it better than them.
• Take risks. You have to be prepared to be a risk taker, but to be successful you will need to be right more than wrong.
• Decision making. In your business you have to be prepared to take decisions and accept the consequences.
• Learn from others. Read about others that have done it before. Some good starting points are Grinding it Out by Ray Kroc , the man that took over small scale McDonalds and built it into the most successful fast food operation in the world; and Business as Usual by Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop.
• Delegate. You have to be willing to delegate and hand over your dreams to other people, but they have to be the right people who will share your dream.
• Listen. Listen to others and their thoughts, but in the end it is YOUR decision.

Click here for more details on the Skill Build program, forthcoming sessions and how to get involved.