It is possible to be profitable from day one, but the truth is very few start ups succeed the first time around, writes Pamela Whitby

In a world where jobs are no longer for life, it’s become trendy to become an entrepreneur. Those who’ve already made it may make the lifestyle look glamorous but the reality is that it’s a long hard slog requiring serious commitment. Ask anybody who has launched a business and they’ll tell you to kiss your social life goodbye and prepare for an emotional roller coaster ride.

Not everybody has what it takes to succeed.

“It’s a myth that successful entrepreneurs are just out of college. Unless they are lucky, first time entrepreneurs are 99% certain to fail. Experience counts,” says Joe Haslam, chairman and co-founder of HotHotels.

By contrast, serial entrepreneurs take their learning from one start up to the next. Forty-one year old Afzaal Mauthoor, one of the winners of EyeforTravel’s 2013 Lean Start-Up competition, which tested the idea that you could launch an online travel business in 48 hours, is one of those.

It’s a myth that successful entrepreneurs are just out of college

Joe Haslam, Chairman and Co-Founder of HotHotels

As the founder of several start-ups – including TripStarter, the company that took home the EyeforTravel start-up prize - Mauthoor has learnt many lessons along the way – not least that anybody with true entrepreneurial flair never gives up.

After several months of trying to get TripStarter off the ground, the venture was put on ice in December 2013, but is now set for re-launch repackaged with the name Tripioneer. In the meantime, like any true entrepreneur, Mauthoor has squeezed in launching another business, Inspired Escapes, which he describes as “a whole new beautiful disruptive monster of a start up in the adventure travel space”.

After a slow start in May 2013, the firm, which is the UK’s first company to combine philanthropic fundraising with travel booking, soon ramped up and was awarded six digit seed funding in February 2014.

Knowing when to raise money in order to grow is crucial to any start up business. “Either it flies or it falls off the cliff, but you need to extend the runway if you need time to get it right,” says Mauthoor. Almost a year in and Inspired Escapes needs an extended runway and has called in another six-digit figure.

One of the many lessons Mauthoor has learnt is that very often you need double the money to get things off the ground properly; it always takes longer than you expect to get to the growth stage.

While investing at the right time is crucial, however, what you need to avoid, says Haslam, is premature scaling that results in a high ‘burn rate’ – in other words, more money going out than coming in. Yes, it’s important to get the right people on board, but firms need to beware not to hire too many people too soon.

With three start ups under his belt and two as chief executive, Max Kraynov CEO of metasearch engine Jetradar/Aviasales has this to say: “We’ve been profitable from day one but we should've got investment one year earlier to speed up our growth even further.”

If you are going to fail in a task, fail fast and then crack open the champagne

Afzaal Mauthoor, Founder, Inspired Escapes

Knowing where to spend it to deliver the best returns is important too. “I’d have reduced the span of spending on new initiatives and done a few more boring things with more certain payout,” says Kraynov.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing but it’s inevitable that new companies will make mistakes. The most important thing for any true entrepreneur is to take the lessons from these and apply them to the next venture.

“If you are going to fail in a task, fail fast and then crack open the champagne. You have learnt something new about your company. It can only lead to success,” says Mauthoor.

Perhaps another core quality – eternal optimism.