“The real satisfaction is building something that didn’t exist before.”

Entrepreneur Marinos Alexandrou has built businesses across industries from healthcare (Adam Health and International Andrology) to hospitality (3 Locks Brewery and 56 Isles), often by trusting instinct and taking calculated risks. Here he reflects on leaving a secure career path in finance, navigating difficult decisions during the pandemic, and why conviction, not money, sits at the heart of entrepreneurship.

Q: What was the biggest risk you took early on, and how did it shape your journey?

Marinos:
It depends how you define risk, because in business you’re always taking risks. But the biggest one for me was deciding I didn’t want to stay in a nine-to-five job.

I started in finance just after the financial crisis. It’s a great foundation because you learn discipline and how to understand risk. Numbers don’t lie, if you understand your numbers, you understand what you can afford to lose.

But leaving that security wasn’t easy. Finance offers stability and a clear career path. I didn’t have financial backing or a safety net, just the conviction that I wanted to build things of my own.

Q: What was it about the nine-to-five life that didn’t appeal to you?

Marinos:
When you run your own business there’s definitely no nine-to-five, it’s usually a lot more than that.

For me it was about freedom. Freedom to create, to take risks and decide where I put my energy.

Financial reward matters, but the real satisfaction is building something. You come up with an idea, bring it to market, and suddenly it exists because you made it happen.

Q: Every entrepreneur faces moments when they feel like giving up. How do you deal with that?

Marinos:
They happen more often than people think.

Over time you almost become used to them. You remember feeling that way before and realise you got through it.

Support helps too, family, friends, collaborators. I’m lucky to have strong support around me. But ultimately it comes down to conviction. You have to believe in what you’re building.

Q: You mentioned building a brewery during COVID. That must have required a lot of belief.

Marinos:
Yes, absolutely.

I built a new business during COVID while hospitality was completely shut down. I was building a brewery in Camden when most of the world had paused and at the same time I had all the other businesses and especially Adam Health was making significant progress.

There were definitely nights where I thought, what am I doing? But that’s entrepreneurship, pushing forward even when things feel uncertain.

Q: What qualities do you think young entrepreneurs need today?

Marinos:
Conviction is probably the most important one.

Not blind optimism, but genuine belief in what you’re doing.

You also need people around you who tell you the truth, not just what you want to hear. And when you take risks, make them calculated. Think about whether you can absorb the downside if things go wrong.

Most importantly, do something that genuinely makes you happy. For me, creating things makes me happy.

Q: What advice would you give someone with a great idea but limited resources?

Marinos:
Don’t let great ideas die quietly.

If you believe in something, go for it as much as you can. Speak to people, use your network, reach out to those who might understand what you’re trying to build.

You never know who might want to support it. A lot of opportunities begin with simple conversations.

Q: What’s the biggest misconception about entrepreneurship?

Marinos:
That it’s just about money.

People see the outside and assume it’s glamorous. But they don’t see the long hours, the pressure or the sacrifices.

Someone might see you in Paros and think you’re on holiday. What they don’t see is that you’ve been working most of the day.

Entrepreneurship can be rewarding, but it’s also demanding, and often quite lonely.

Q: Finally, what role did your Cypriot background and family play in your journey?

Marinos:
A big role.

I grew up in Cyprus seeing people build businesses but also the support that exists in Cypriot families. My father was an entrepreneur and my mother was always the family support, and even my grandmother ran a business at a time when that wasn’t common for women.

That environment definitely shaped me. I think it’s in our DNA!

But family support matters just as much. I come from a big, very close family, and having that support network gives you the confidence to take risks – I keep relying on my siblings and now my fiance as my biggest supporters.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.