A winemaker reminds us of the importance of passion
What does it take to succeed as an entrepreneur?
It’s a question that one third of Canadians are contemplating apparently.
That’s how many dream of running their own business according to a recent Angus Reid poll.
What’s the appeal? The main reason, according to the survey, is so they’ll have greater control over their own destiny. Other reasons include not having to work for someone else, and being able to make more money than working on a salary.
But what about passion?...
At Newport Partners, we have a fantastic network of high achiever entrepreneurs we’re fortunate to work with. They’re in different businesses in different parts of the country, but to my mind, what they have in common is an intense desire to innovate, create, design or change what is.
Their success is a by-product of pursuing their passion.
This point hit home last night as we listened to our friend, Moray Tawse talk about his wine making business, Tawse Winery. Moray is a highly successful entrepreneur who has built several successful companies, the largest of which is First National Financial (TSX: FN.UN), Canada’s largest non-bank mortgage lender with $48 billion of assets under management. In 2005, Moray launched Tawse Winery in Niagara and set out to make ultra-premium wines.
Last night, Moray took us and some of our wine enthusiast clients on a tasting and talk about his business. It was an absolutely fascinating evening and everyone I spoke to afterward had the same response:
“What passion!” If he could bottle it, he’d have another successful company.
As Moray explained, “There are stacks of wine books on my bedside table and they are my nighttime reading. I think about wine. I dream about wine.”
How does this passion translate into a successful business?
Well for one, Tawse strives for excellence, producing only ‘cool climate’ varietals that his winery can really excel at i.e. Riesling, Chardonnay, Pinor Noir. The ‘terroir’ – the combination of shale, limestone and unique soil conditions of the Niagara Escarpment allow them to produce interesting wines of subtle complexity.
He has exacting standards for his wine making processes and equipment. The winery uses no pesticides or herbicides in its vineyards, preferring organic and bio-dynamic methods of farming. For instance, they’ve planted stinging nettle and assorted grasses around their grapes as these are not tolerated by pests. They let chickens and lambs run loose in the vineyards to cull other pests and eat the leaves that block sunlight from the grapes. Ingeniously simple. Who knew?
Next week, Tawse is off to London, England where he’ll be pouring his wines for international wine critics and oenophiles at Canada House. He’s already won the accolades of sommeliers here in Canada: Tawse Winery was named Best Ontario Winery at the Canadian Wine Awards last year and walked away with 14 medals. And this isn’t even his full time gig!
So if you’re thinking of launching your own business, you’ll need lots of capabilities. Skills, discipline, intense desire and hard work to name a few. But if you haven’t got passion, you likely won’t have the sustained energy to practice those other qualities -- let alone inspire any investors, bankers, customers or employees to take a chance on your vision.
