Three best practices to drive entrepreneurial success

Discover EY’s 3 Proven Practices for Entrepreneurial Success in Canada.

In brief

• At EY Canada, we’ve been recognizing and celebrating innovative entrepreneurs for three decades.
• Across this ecosystem, leading entrepreneurs in retail and other industries consistently demonstrate common traits, characteristics and strategies. 
• Brands that embrace similar principles can strengthen customer loyalty and open new pathways to long-term growth and profitability. 

The art of entrepreneurship is often romanticized. Many peg the entrepreneur’s journey as one where innovative ideas effortlessly flourish. That said, insights surfaced through our EY Entrepreneur Of The Year program reveal a unique glimpse into the entrepreneurial reality, making it clear: success takes unrelenting perseverance and grit — and more.

After nearly 30 years of celebrating innovators in Canada, we’ve come to identify common characteristics and leading practices that underpin entrepreneurial success. The program has celebrated more than 3,200 program finalists, shining the spotlight on all the ways these changemakers are redefining what’s possible through compelling new products, solutions and services. Stories shared at every stage of the program reinforce that embarking on the entrepreneurial journey is a lot like setting sail to uncharted waters. Challenges become the norm, and commitment is a 24/7 endeavour. Still, success takes more than long hours alone; it requires a specific mindset. 

How do the entrepreneurs we encounter set themselves apart? From coast to coast to coast, they:

1. Turn challenges into steppingstones. Making monumental progress requires entrepreneurs to accept challenges and transform them into possibilities. That means embracing the grind, welcoming the unexpected and persisting in the face of adversity. Successful entrepreneurs see challenges as lessons in resilience, and simply keep on going. That’s something we’ve heard time and time again. Joanna Griffiths, Canada’s EY Entrepreneur Of The Year for 2022, recently told our EY Leaders in Retail series she wishes people shared more about the challenges entrepreneurs face, saying: “I think that [entrepreneurship is] not an easy path. It’s one that I wish people spoke more openly about, but there is something so incredible being on this planet, and on this Earth, to be like: ‘I built that, I helped build that, I helped create this.’” Griffiths founded direct-to-consumer intimate apparel brand Knix in 2013, essentially launching an entirely new retail category: leakproof underwear. She did this despite hundreds of would-be financiers shutting down her initial capital pitch. Fast forward, and Griffiths’ business was valued at just over half a billion dollars when she sold 80% to a Swedish health and hygiene giant in 2022. Like so many entrepreneurs who’ve come through the EY program over the years, Griffiths succeeded by refusing to give up and staying true to her vision.

Jake Karls, co-founder, Mid-Day Squares, shown participating in the EY video series Leaders in Retail. August 2023.

2. Surround themselves with support. Leading business innovators invest in themselves. They balance wellbeing and mental health as fundamental priorities. From the outside looking in, the very pace of entrepreneurship could take a toll on anyone. Building a resilient mind is as crucial as building a robust business plan. Whether that means surrounding yourself with the right team members, coaches, mentors and/or counsellors: entrepreneurs must absolutely bet on themselves and invest equally in the right support network to succeed. That’s something entrepreneurial leaders like Jake Karls have learned firsthand. He co-founded disruptive functional chocolate brand Mid-Day Squares. Interviewed for EY’s Leaders in Retail series, Karls discussed the multiple burn-outs he’s experienced while building a family business: "It's painful, and I say this with the love for entrepreneurship. Coming to this journey, I didn't know how hard it was going to be. I thought you got magazines, you get revenue, you raise money, you do cool things. But then you start to see that there's a whole other side of the journey where it's pain and it's ups and downs. And if you can't figure out how to balance that, you're going to have a very hard time, because the pressure is a pressure cooker."

3. Stay true to their own authenticity. Today’s consumers crave genuine connections and shared values. That’s especially true among Gen Z. EY research shows that 92% of Gen Z consumers consider being authentic and true to oneself to be extremely or very important. That’s up 16% over pre-pandemic findings, and that sentiment is shaping consumer behaviours. Gen Z are intentional about what they buy. For brands and businesses to build authentic connections, loyalty and trust with this group, the entrepreneurs who lead them must operate genuinely, too. Whether through transparent communication, socially responsible practices or a meaningful commitment to customer satisfaction, authenticity is a bridge that links entrepreneurs with their audience on a deeper level. Case in point: Karls considers authenticity to be the connective thread that helps relate to and understand Mid-Day Squares’ brand: “If you as a brand find your authenticity, you have a real chance of connecting with today's consumer because today's consumers are craving, genuineness, realness, some sort of authenticity (…). It can just be something like, what does your brand stand for? And tell that story every single day.” Griffiths summarizes this well in the EY Leaders in Retail series too, saying: “From a leadership perspective, what you see is what you get. I really pride myself on being the same person no matter who it is that I'm talking to and approaching leadership from a place of vulnerability, but also a place of fun.” Entrepreneurs we meet who find — and maintain — an authentic voice aligned to business strategy set themselves apart in a noisy marketplace and maintain relevance across consumer groups.