Entrepreneurs

spring_insideout_06.qxd 21/3/06 10:00 Page 16 Entrepreneurs> The Ones To Watch You’ve heard from an entrepreneur at the top of his game. Now we seek further inspiration from three young businessmen who are already making waves in their respective industries, beginning with Daniel Reilly, who started running an airline at 16. So how did it feel to be taking to the skies while the rest of his friends were only just learning to drive? Here, Daniel reveals all... Interviewee> Daniel Reilly_Founder_Nexus Airways Were you always interested in starting up your own business? It wasn’t something I’d considered until I was 16, but I was probably about eight when I decided aircraft did it for me. I wanted to be a pilot and that didn’t change until I was 15, when I started GCSE Business Studies and really enjoyed it. I decided to study it for A-Level, and then I had an idea about setting up an airline. I’d just started flying lessons and somebody suggested I bought a little plane and flew people round on day trips, though I took it far too seriously and started looking into setting up an airline. Originally I was just going to do Liverpool to London flights, but then my family bought a home in Tenerife and it cost £300 every time to get there. No low-cost airlines flew there at the time, so I started looking into the market, researching how many passengers went to Tenerife and what airports they used. I discovered Liverpool Airport offered very few flights to Tenerife, and then I worked through the night putting my business plan together. What research did you do? I looked on the Civil Aviation website, where they have statistics on how many passengers go to certain destinations and out of which airports. I then spoke to the airport and a couple of airlines, asking how they found the market. When I was out in Tenerife I spoke to holidaymakers and used my own knowledge of the industry. By this time, easyJet were flying from Liverpool to more destinations, but there were still no flights to the Canaries. Most people thought I was mad, even my family. It wasn’t until I met a financial adviser and put the business plan in front of him, and he said it was good, that I thought I could do it. He picked up some things that needed to be corrected, but he like the basic idea and the model. The financial adviser was based in Harrogate so his nearest airport was Leeds Bradford, and Jet 2 had just set up low-cost flights from Leeds Bradford and there were rumours that they were looking into flying to Tenerife. That gave the idea a bit more support. I then put together my plan and did all the extra financial research I needed to do. How did you go about securing financial backing? Through the financial adviser. He organised a meeting for me with an investor who really like my idea. He agreed to find the finance, but he wanted money from the actual investment. That was what we ended up agreeing to do because I couldn’t afford it myself. 16 insideout spring_insideout_06.qxd 21/3/06 10:00 Page 17 How long did it take to the launch the airline from the conception of the idea? The company started in July 2005, which was about two years from when I had the idea. It was at least a year before the financial adviser agreed the plan was good enough. I then got a company to back it and we started getting a bit more serious and having meetings. We’d already had initial meetings to get an idea of costs, but this was the serious part where we were fighting for business. It was another six months before we finally got a date. I’d originally planned to launch in October 2005, but then I reached August and knew we couldn’t do it. Fortunately, the time of year isn’t as crucial with the Canaries, unlike other destinations, because their season is all year round. When we started the business we employed two call centre staff and a management team, made up of two people plus myself. The name Nexus came from a Star Trek film, and it means Link! We ran the business from my house up until we launched and then moved to offices in West Yorkshire. interest in business until I was 16, so I looked up to pilots as opposed to business people. What was the best piece of advice you were given? Richard Branson gave some interesting advice in his last letter, saying not to give up and to believe in yourself. If you’ve got a dream, don’t allow people to put you off, because if you want something badly enough you can achieve anything. He also said that the secret of success is taking risks and finding good people who you can trust to work with. Is it important for young entrepreneurs to have strong role models? It’s a good idea to have someone who you can look up to and hopefully learn from. But it’s a nice idea to actually talk to them, if you can, learn from their experience and ask for their advice. What qualities can young people bring to a business? A 21st century approach and a new kind of perspective. Young people bring fresh ideas, which is crucial in business, and you come up with a lot more ideas when you’re younger. Were you always confident the airline would be a success? There have been many worrying times, especially when we started taking the first bookings. The first day was so busy, but on the second day things started to die down and then it died down even more. I’ve had many sleepless nights and times when I’ve wondered if it was really going to work. You don’t want to admit that you doubt your own ideas, but it does happen, and anyone who says it doesn’t is lying. The first months were a nightmare because our main backer went bankrupt; that caused us serious problems and I thought we wouldn’t be able to operate the flights. I ended up booking passengers on flights from Manchester and it took a while to get back on track, but we’ve got new backers and we’re ready to operate our own flights, as opposed to operating with someone else. I never expected that kind of setback, but in this industry these things happen and you have no control over it. But if you can get through it, it gives you a bit more confidence and experience. What advice would you give to somebody wanting to start up their own business? Be determined and don’t let people put you down or tell you to get a normal job. You also need to be realistic, because it isn’t all smart offices and flash cars. It’s hard work and there are times when you wonder what you’ve got yourself into. But if you’re determined and you do your research then it’s definitely worthwhile. You also need to have a passion for the industry you want to enter. I’ve always had a passion for the aviation industry, but if somebody told me to start a car business I wouldn’t know where to begin, because I’ve got no knowledge or interest in cars. With the benefit of hindsight, would you do anything differently? I definately would have created online booking facilities. We originally launched with just a call centre, and we had so many people sending emails to ask how they could book online that was a mistake to rely on just phones. For some reason, people only want to use the internet these days, but I couldn’t complain about the amount of coverage we got because it was phenomenal - I was amazed by the amount of interest the public took in us. I was interviewed for radio in Brazil and New Zealand and I wouldn’t change any of that. Did you encounter any problems because of your age? I was quite surprised because when I was 16 and I went to meetings, people didn’t bat an eyelid. At one meeting somebody even asked me where I’d parked and I told them that I couldn’t even drive yet! But there were a few people I dealt with who were a bit dubious of me because of my age. Now people treat me with a lot more respect, because they know what they’re dealing with and don’t even question it. Can age count against you when you’re setting up a business? It depends on the type of business. The best time to start a business, in my opinion, is when you’re young because you can take more in. And if you’re determined, you will carry on regardless. It’s much more common for young people to become involved in business these days, so I can’t see it being a problem. 18 is the perfect age to start a business - at 16 I had a few problems with contracts because you can’t sign anything because you’re not classed as an adult. What do you see for the future of Nexus Airways? We’re launching our new services in May 2006, and ultimately we’re now talking about long-haul flights because that’s where I want the company go. Most of Europe is well covered as far as low-cost airlines. The Canaries hadn’t really been touched, so that’s where I thought a market was. There are still some places like Cyprus I would like to look into, but personally I’d like to take the company long-haul because that seems to be where the market is now becoming quite popular, with people able to afford to go a bit further afield these days. I’ve therefore got a few meetings with a couple of airports over the next couple of months to discuss longhaul flights for 2007. insideout Who has inspired you? Richard Branson, Stelios and the late Freddie Laker are the people I look up to in the business world. I didn’t have an 17