This past Thursday morning I had the good fortune to have breakfast with Troy Hazard, a self-confessed (but non-repentant) serial entrepreneur. I was fascinated to learn more about this entrepreneur who founded 10 different companies in the span of 20 years.

After a string of jobs which included a junior manager with Myer (an Australian department store), working in the family fishing tackle business, radio announcer, and media executive, he decided it was time to have a go at starting his own business. Troy quit his job and began a home-renovation business. This was particularly interesting as Troy had no idea how to renovate a home. Regardless, he did well, and was able to build a thriving and profitable business. He parlayed this first business into another, and kept at it -- becoming a serial entrepreneur. In addition to starting his own string of companies, Troy served as International President for the World Entrepreneur Organization, serving on the Entrepreneur Organization's (EO) global board. (EO has more than 5,500 members worldwide in 120 chapters and 40 countries.) And if that all wasn't enough, he even wrote his book -- The Naked Entrepreneur.

Needless to say, Troy is a very interesting guy, and he's got some great stories to tell about his personal lessons from the entrepreneurial edge. During the course of our conversation, I asked Troy what advice he would give to businesspeople today. Here are his four keys to success in today's fast-changing economic climate:

• It's time for business owners and leaders to take responsibility for their own destiny, their own actions and their own thoughts.
• It's time for executives to not be afraid of the future, and to embrace change and the opportunity to change.
• It's time for businesses to pick the low hanging fruit. Get closer to your customers, to feel their needs, to fulfil that need, and to ensure you have their business for the future. Don't take them for granted; your competition won't.
• It's time for companies to get back to basics and get real. Turn this time into an opportunity to get back to the things you were good at.