Dreaming may be a most natural thing for us, yet there was a time when Benny Se Teo, the founder of Eighteen Chefs, felt he did not have the license to dream.

Benny, who dropped out of school after failing his O-Level examinations, credits his success today to the many failures he encountered in life. The adversities taught him to bounce back from difficulties with grit and the business setbacks taught him invaluable lessons on how to run a social enterprise.

"When I started Eighteen Chefs, I was 47 years old. To fail was never an option," he says. Until then, his life had been marked by defeats. In his younger days, he was misled and spent more than 10 years in and out of prison because of a drug addiction. By the time he had made up his mind to return to a normal life, he was already 33. Others were chasing the Singapore dream of owning a car, having cash, a career and a condo. However, Benny’s dream was simply to live a regular life. All he wanted was to be able to wake up each morning, have breakfast with his family, have a job, go home and watch television with the family, then sleep peacefully.

After he was released from prison, he really wanted to chase that dream but he encountered repeated rejections. Interview after interview, there was no end to closing doors. He struggled even to find a decent job. Doggedly, he trudged on and eventually became his own boss. If passion had got him started, it must be perseverance that kept him going. He simply refused to give up despite several failed business ventures. With sheer determination, Benny set up Eighteen Chefs in 2007, after his stint in London, where he became the first Asian to be trained in Jamie Oliver's restaurant, Fifteen.

With determination, nothing is impossible!