The winners of this year's Ernst & Young award describe the qualities needed to become an entrepreneur, writes Claire Shoesmith

If you did as I told you last week, then you will be reading this article content in the knowledge that your entry into the Young Scientist Exhibition has met the competition's deadline.

You can now sit back and dream of that moment in January when you are named as the winner. Sorry, did I just say sit back? Whatever the outcome of the Young Scientist competition, now is most certainly not the time to be sitting back and relaxing.

You should be considering how you can replicate the useful things that you are learning in school out there in the real world.

You do not need to look far for examples of where you can get to if you put your mind to it either. Take for example Aidan Heavey, Michael Carey and Jerry Kennelly, who all hit the headlines last week as winners of Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year award.

"These people are great role models for anyone thinking about getting into business," says Enda Kelly, partner in charge of the programme at Ernst & Young. "Through the competition, we identify people who have great stories to tell, which we hope will inspire other people to pursue their dreams."

While now may be a little early to start thinking about setting up your own business, it is never too soon to start preparing yourself for the wider world, says Jerry Kennelly, who won the emerging category for founding Stockbyte, the largest global creator of premium royalty photographs in the world.

For Kennelly, one of the most important things young people can do is to get as much experience of the working world as they can while they are still studying.

"Doing something practical is really valuable," he says. "It keeps people in touch with the real world and gets them out of the bubble education can create."

While this is something that Kennelly believes can set you on the path to becoming an entrepreneur, there are several more attributes that you will need to make it in the business world.

According to Michael Carey, who won the industry category, the single most important attribute that an entrepreneur needs to have is optimism.

"You have to have a deep belief in what you are trying to do and you have to use that power to get through any obstacles that are in your way," he says.

Without this belief your venture will fail, says Carey, who with several college friends set up Jacob Fruitfield Food, a group which now has turnover of about €100 million and is aiming for €250 million within the next three years.

"Our aim is to become a new force in the Irish food industry," he says, adding that he could not have got to where he is now without the help of his friends.

"Entrepreneurship is not about an individual," he says. "It's about an individual who has managed to build a very able team around them."

This is something that is backed up by the overall winner Aidan Heavey, founder of exploration group Tullow Oil. For him, one of the most important things a potential entrepreneur can do is to recognise their own weaknesses.

"Nobody can do everything," he says. "You have to be very blunt and look at yourself and say: 'I am good at some things and bad at others' and then assemble a team that can fill in those gaps. If you are arrogant, then you will fail."

Tullow Oil was founded in Dublin in 1986 and is now a leading independent gas exploration and production company listed on the Dublin and London stock exchanges.

Heavey has grown the group from a gas production and sales group in Senegal to a company with the largest spread of interests of any oil company in Africa. It has 200 employees and another 200 full-time contractors.

Passion is another important attribute essential to making it in the business world, say all three winners.

"It's about doing something that you enjoy," says Kennelly. "I have been in my business for almost 25 years and every day I enjoy going to work."

So, providing you believe in yourself and are optimistic, as well as being prepared to work passionately as part of a team, then it seems you have what it takes to become an entrepreneur.

Although one thing that I may have omitted to tell you is that it also takes rather a lot of hard work and determination to succeed in the business world, so what more do you need to get you through that obstacle, than plenty of tenacity?

"You need to be tenacious," says Carey. "Do not take no for an answer. There will always be 100 reasons why you should not do it and if you dwell on these issues, you will not get anywhere. You must seize all the opportunities you get."

Past winners of the competition, which is now in its eighth year in Ireland, include Moya Doherty and John Colgan of Riverdance, Eddie Jordan of Formula 1 fame and mobile phone entrepreneur Denis O'Brien.