Young Bermudians got their first taste of what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur at a meeting held at Bermuda College.

The event was entitled 'Entrepreneurship and the Bermudian Male', which was organised by Menspeak, the Registered Student Organisation for Bermuda College's male students.

It featured a panel of Brenton Richardson, the founder of entertainment website BermyNet, Randy Stafford, owner of Stafford Flooring and executive member and director of Bermuda Small Business Development Corporation, radio and television entrepreneur Jonathan Talbot, car designer and mechanic Kevin Busby and leadership guru Anthony Witherspoon.

A series of questions on entrepreneurship and everything that goes with it was put to the panel, while students, including classes from Berkeley Institute and CedarBridge Academy, had the chance to quiz the experts on their field.

The seminar kicked off with a discussion on what defines an entrepreneur with the answers ranging from the inspiration to do something positive and making your dream come true to discovering who you are in life, what you want to be and following that path, seizing the opportunity and being in control of your professional future.

Mr. Richardson spoke about the biggest achievement during his career, citing keeping up to date with the latest trends and developments as one of his main fulfilments.

"It is a very dynamic project I do - one day things are hot and the next day it is not, so we have to reinvent yourself a lot of the time out there," he said.

"It is just being consistent in the whole project in general and some of the biggest achievements are through partnerships and working with other groups and I think that just opens up for even more opportunities to reach your goals."

Mr. Stafford then gave students an insight into setting up a business and the importance of having strong support behind you to do so.

"I started out selling wood flooring in the 1980s when tiling and carpeting was the main choice," he said.

"It was enough business to carry out my needs at the time, which was a two-man crew and who would have thought that now when you go into people's houses they are primarily looking for a wood floor for comfort.

"I come from a family of entrepreneurs and I am following in the trail of many, so it comes naturally to me - it was always a matter of saying 'you are going to make it' and you always made it.

"But I have always had complete support in my decisions in whatever I do."

Mr. Witherspoon went on to devise a four-step plan for budding young entrepreneurs looking to get ahead of the game in Bermuda.

"Along with belief in your faith, a plan must be developed," he said.

"I have come up with a four score success puzzle - the first part is to have a life vision for where you want to be in life and what you want to invest your life in and then develop a business vision for where you want to be in 20 years and what do you want to improve in the world and how are you going to make money.

"From the business vision, step-by-step, you can form an outline of how you will develop your business.

"Then it is about party management and what are the things that would make you accountable to achieve each of these things.

"You work on the plan and you do it every day so you can stay in touch with that four score success puzzle."

He then gave some advice about getting over failure and dealing with obstacles, using the analogy of a sportsman and a businessman.

"I have always believed as an athlete - and then as an entrepreneur - that I have always put forward my best efforts," he said.

"I believe business is a journey and there are so many lessons learnt and experienced.

"Within these failures come opportunities to pick yourself up and start again, just as they are in playing sport.

"As an entrepreneur, my advice would be to learn as much as possible from guys that you may want to mentor or use business attributes that you find appealing."

All five of the entrepreneurs went on to talk about some of the major challenges and issues facing young Bermudian males aiming to get into business on the Island.

Mr. Richardson reckons the fear of failure is one of the key barriers they have to overcome.

"If things are going to work and if you are going to put food on the table and if you put yourself through this mental game to think that they are going to work out, especially if you have advice from someone who has been through the same thing, you can get over the fear of failure," he said.

Mr. Stafford said: "I think you have to buy into the method of working hard - I was told at a young age that the door of the home I grew up at was a one-way door and not a swinging door, so you got up and went on your way and did your own thing."

Mr. Witherspoon concluded: "You should have some idea of what you want to do - you need to have a business plan so you have priorities to focus on."