Hugh Boyle. (Darren Brown, OBJ)

Sometimes timing is everything. The oversimplified mantra of investing is "buy low, sell high," but when a market looks like it's tanking, is it time to get in while others are desperate to sell, or go with the flow?

One entrepreneur who has proven that it can be very lucrative to go against the grain is Hugh Boyle, founder of U.K.-based Direct Holidays. He sold that company in 1998 and moved to Canada to "retire." Instead, he founded Ottawa-based Go Travel Direct and then Zoom Airlines, which offers discount direct flights to Europe and sun destinations. Since launching in 2002, Zoom has grown and rattled competitors. Mr. Boyle told OBJ how he decided to get into the business when many other airlines were looking to get out.

OBJ: So when did you get the idea to start your own airline?

BOYLE: We started up in 2002 just after 9-11 when all the airlines were having a hard time. The unfortunate demise of Canada 3000 and Royal Airways meant we decided it was a good time to get into the market because there wasn't a lot of flying from Ottawa to southern destinations at the time. There were (very few) flights in the winter period from Ottawa to any of the southern sunny destinations direct.

OBJ: But you didn't just wake up one day and say, "I think I'm going to buy a bunch of airplanes."

BOYLE: (Laughs) No. I realized that for people trying to go south from Ottawa, it was very poorly served; you had to go to Toronto or Montreal and this is crazy, we're a pretty big city. So we started seeing how we could start an airline to do that.

I owned a tour operator called Direct Holidays and it was just as the name suggests: direct sale through an operator. In Canada we didn't have any direct sales at all because everything went through a travel agent. In 2000 when I started my holiday company in Canada (Go Travel Direct), I believed there was room and potential for growth for a direct sales tour operator.

That has proved to be a very difficult thing to do in Canada for many reasons, but clearly the Internet was coming of age and people were connecting to it. You have to remember at that time, people were booking flights from Ottawa to Toronto through a travel agent to make the reservation. I had the foresight to think that this wouldn't last much longer and it was not going to happen in the package holiday business.

OBJ: When you started talking about developing Zoom, especially as so many airlines were going bankrupt, did anyone tell you it was a crazy idea?

BOYLE: I probably am, my wife tells me I am most days. But I guess because it doesn't conform to the normal words of wisdom. That's what entrepreneurs see; they see opportunities, they are forward-looking people who think differently.

OBJ: How did you get financing?

BOYLE: I was very lucky ... I had deep pockets. Unfortunately in Canada, if you want to start a business, it's virtually impossible because banks will not lend you a penny unless you are prepared to guarantee it and if you could guarantee it, why would you need to borrow it in the first place? They will only give you money if you have got money, they are very anti-risk. I think it's the saddest thing that the banking system is so risk averse because it's just not a way to grow.

OBJ: So what was the hardest part to starting your company if it wasn't the money?

BOYLE: Right, because that's usually the stumbling block, but I didn't have that issue. I don't think it was hard getting people to change their ways of doing things. I think we have fantastic people in Canada. There was nothing except the day-to-day operations. When we started there were a lot of pilots around, there were a lot of planes around because a lot of airlines had gone bankrupt and a lot of airlines were downsizing. There was every reason to start up a new venture ...

Unfortunately we had a lot of bad publicity and some strong competition from travel agents to get us to stop operating. As we speak today, the Competition Bureau of Canada is dealing with a very lengthy litigation with the major tour operators who tried to put Go Travel Direct out of business. But Go Travel continues on ... it is very successful. It opened up the market and made people realize that there are destinations that people want to fly to from Ottawa. We now have approximately 15 to 20 flights per week in the winter season from Ottawa to southern destinations. The dollar is strong, people are travelling more, what more could you want?

OBJ: What would be your words of advice for someone looking to make a big step to start their own business?

BOYLE: If you have a great idea, and money is an issue to make that idea work, then you just have to make sure that you tell enough people and enough people believe in you. It's as simple as that. Listen to what people have got to tell you and listen to people who have done it before. The best advice is from people who have been there, seen it, and dealt with the problems. You'll save yourself a lot of time and a lot of money.

THE EXPERTS SAY

Airlines are a mature, established market. It's interesting that someone had the fortitude to launch a new airline when it looked like the airline industry was in its darkest moment. I think that in the technology market it's a bit different in that you're launching new products and timing is really critical in terms of making sure the market is going to need this technology, but you also have to be right with the speed in which this new market is going to unfold for the technology. That's the added complexity with the technology market: will the market be ready for it?

We have had some companies in our portfolio where everything came together: the right technology, the markets emerging at the right time. We have had other instances of companies who have really good products but maybe four to five years ahead of when we're going to see a mass adoption for the technology. Then as a venture capitalist, you're left with the $64,000 question, which is: do I continue to fund this company until the market develops for it, or do I say I can't wait four or five years?

For a smaller venture-backed company you have to get the timing within a reasonable scope because the reality is if the market is not ready to buy your technology, it may be impossible to keep your company funded for all those years.

David Ferguson, managing general partner, VenGrowth

When it comes to timing, I generally go by the saying, "The best time to plant an oak tree was 20 years ago, the second best time is today."

The most important piece of sage advice I can give you related to timing is: now is always a good time if you know what you are doing ... Rushing into the market with a new business based on rash decisions will only lead to heartache and unnecessary financial hemorrhaging. Informed decisions have a much greater chance of being smart decisions.

As an example, there's no use starting a snow-removal business in the spring. A better investment of your time, energy and effort would be to do your research and business building efforts in the spring and summer.

Outside-the-box thinkers are generally the ones that take an adversity or obstacle and turn it into an opportunity. Consider the state of real estate right now in America. Many people are losing their homes, interest rates are on the climb, the proverbial bubble has burst. Most would say this is a bad time, but I can assure you that some savvy investors will make a literal fortune by taking advantage of the opportunity right now to buy real estate in a bad market.

Whenever you see something taking a turn for the worse, you just have to know that there is an opportunity in there somewhere.

David Mason, author of e-zine, Performance Development News