MAKING millions of pounds, creating jobs and generating wealth in the south - these are some of the key attributes that have made some of Hampshire's entrepreneurs what they are today.

Budding businesses were let in on the secrets of success at a special event held at Hampshire Cricket's Rose Bowl.

They were told that, to make their first million, they needed both the right opportunity and the right contacts. Then it was down to personal qualities like being a workaholic and not being afraid of challenge or the unknown.

The event was organised by the Institute of Directors, together with Seeda, business Link Wessex and the Hampshire Economic Partnership.

It was the first time these four business organisations have come together for such an event.

IoD policy chairman Anne Duncan said: "It makes sense to pool our resources so that business talent in the county can be encouraged."

So they brought together a team of dynamic entrepreneurs, who included Anne, to talk about their own experiences and ingredients for success, plus advisers to give specific help with areas such as funding.

Mike Pawley, regional IoD chairman, introduced seven speakers.

There was Steve Davis, director of the Southampton Enterprise Hub at Chilworth Science Park; David Nicholas MBE, innovation and technical counsellor for Business Link Wessex; Simon White, a partner with BDO Stoy Hayward in Southampton who has raised in excess of £750 million for growing businesses, Alan Montgomery, an IoD committee member, and two entrepreneurs, still in their twenties, who have both developed multi-million-pound businesses.

Aaron Ross, 23, from Portsmouth, said his entrepreneurial spirit was born when, at the age of 11, he started washing cars.

One of his customers introduced him to the computer industry and by the time he was 19 he had sold his first company for £2.2 million.

Now he is chief executive of Nu-Zone Solutions, specialising in Internet and 3D development.

He told his audience that he didn't consider himself far along the road to successful entrepreneurship but what drives him on is job satisfaction, money and the ability to control his own life.

Aaron's tip: travel first class - it's where you'll find the people who can award the big contracts.

Simon Buckingham, a 29-year-old who has made his fortune from text messages and mobile phones, covered the pros and cons of success.

Simon started his first company, Mobile Streams, in 1998 when he left Vodafone and published 'Data on SMS'.

He quickly became the industry's text messaging guru.

Then he started Ringtones.com. which has publishing deals with top music groups and licensing agreements with all the top mobile phone providers.

Simon said his success was initially thanks to publishing his knowledge of SMS on the internet, but then it was all about developing a small but strong management team, the extensive use of contractors - he only has 10 full-time employees - and keeping hands-on control of all his business interests.

Anne Duncan, who is joint CEO of Yellowfin Ltd, in Southampton, talked about the qualities needed to be an entrepreneur, based on her experience of developing new products which become market leaders, and how important knowledge-based entrepreneurship will be in the 21st century.

Alan Montgomery from Fleet, also an IoD branch committee member, explained how his team developed the world's best data mining product and he described his experiences in raising finance, marketing, exporting, and finally selling a multi-million pound company.