Self-employment
Dreams soar for helicopter pilotsSome may have thought Julia Henderson and Kevin Smith had their heads in the clouds when they launched the Helicopter Company eight years ago. But with their seatbelts firmly fastened, they've weathered many cloudy days and are still flying high. LINDA WHITE |
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 [ 2006-08-09 ] |
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The Helicopter Company president Julia Henderson and vice-president and chief Kevin Smith are both helicopter pilots.
That first year, they flew 300 passengers. Today, they fly almost 10,000 passengers a year -- the equivalent of an airbus each day. They operate the first electronic newsgathering R44 helicopter in Canada and recently helped re-enact the installation of the tip of the CN Tower in celebration of its 30th anniversary.
"Helicopters are the most amazing way to see something," Henderson says. She got hooked on helicopters as a University of Western Ontario student who spent her summers working for the Ministry of Natural Resources.
She got her pilot's licence and eventually landed a job as a helicopter pilot in Toronto. That's where she met Smith, who had belonged to the air force.
When the company they were working for decided to close, Henderson and Smith saw an opportunity. "We agreed and discovered that no one had provided helicopter tours in Canada's largest city.
"No one had dedicated themselves to tourism exclusively. We based our business on a model that this was a niche market," Henderson says. She previously owned a financial planning franchise and Smith worked in production for corporate industry. They decided to tap into Toronto's $19-billion tourism industry.
"Back in '98, it took six months to achieve certification to open our base, which was no easy feat. Nowadays, you'd be lucky if you could accomplish that in less than two years," Henderson says. "We had to have a helicopter before our certification, which was pretty risky, but we had our first passenger waiting the day we opened. We were so proud of ourselves."
The pair leased their first helicopter and worked to keep costs low. Plans to expand coincided with the terrorist attack in the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001 and were put on hold as the aviation and tourism industries braced for fallout.
"We had to decide if we were going to stay in business at all," Henderson says. "The tourists didn't come back in July '02, but we held strong. There was definitely a washing out of poorly capitalized companies."
The SARS pandemic wreaked further havoc on Toronto's tourism industry, but proved a turning point for the entrepreneurs. Until then, they had had been targeting tourists from abroad. "I think part of our success was because of SARS," Henderson says. "We went back to basics in marketing ... and spent our money to attract the local market."
Today, their customer base includes tourists and local residents alike, many wanting to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries and engagements. They provide charter services, mostly for visiting government officials, corporate bigwigs like Bill Gates and potential developers.
The Helicopter Company (www.thehelicoptercompany.com or www.helitours.com) was named a 2006 Best Young Entrepreneur Business by the Canadian Youth Business Foundation. It accepted the pair's business plan and offered them $15,000 -- the only financing they received. But it has provided more than financial support -- it has been their co-pilot for business planning and development, Henderson says.
This summer, the Helicopter Company has 36 employees on payroll, including five pilots and three reservation staff. This summer, it will once again offer flights during the CNE from its landing pad at Exhibition Place -- the busiest helicopter pad in Canada.
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THE CANADIAN YOUTH BUSINESS FOUNDATION
The Canadian Youth Business Foundation (CYBF) is a national charity that provides start-up mentoring, funding and business resources for Canadians aged 18 to 34 interested in creating a successful business.
CYBF provides loans of up to $15,000 and online business resources designed to provide the foundation for new business start-ups. Founded in 1996, it's modeled after the United Kingdom's Prince's Trust and is an accredited member of Youth Business International.
Since its founding in 1996, CYBF has invested in more than 1,600 young entrepreneurs. Their businesses have generated more than $185 million in gross sales, $44 million in tax revenue, $19 million in exports and more than 9,300 new jobs for local Canadian communities.
Visit www.cybf.ca or email info@cybf.ca to learn more.
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