Inside Track: Paul Rawlins, Celtic Rider motorcycle rental and tours

What distinguishes your business from competitors?
We were the first motorcycle rental company to set up in Ireland. It was not possible for overseas tourists to experience Ireland on a rented motorcycle before my wife and I started the company in 2007.

I remember searching "motorcycle rental in Ireland" on Google when we first set up the business and no results were returned. Can you imagine that?

Our clients are cash rich and time poor so we organise everything for them. We collect them from the airport, bring them to their hotel, give them bikes, riding gear and an itinerary. We plan out the best motorcycle routes, with accommodation options etc so they can do self-guided tours.

We also have a dedicated driving school, and a lot of our clients take a lesson at that before embarking on their tour. More often than not they come from a country where they drive on the right hand side and they might not be used to roundabouts either.

What's been the biggest challenge you have had to face?
It would have to be marketing. It was one thing to set up the business but quite another to market it into the world of motorcyclists. We did not know at that time where our key markets would come from, what type of motorcycles would become the most popular, etc. We designed, built and commissioned a customised database to understand our business, the market and clients' details.

And your major success to date?
Starting and introducing a brand new business from absolutely nothing but an idea, watching it grow, creating employment, and then being awarded Outstanding Small Business 2013 by the Small Firms Association.

We have had a number of celebrity clients, including the pop star Pink, the king of Jordan and the Crown Prince of Bahrain.

We got an email in 2010 looking for nine motorcycles to be delivered to the Merrion Hotel. They wouldn't give us the name of the client. Then lots of secret service agents came to our house to suss out the business and we were intrigued. When we delivered the bikes to the hotel we discovered the king of Jordan, the Crown Prince of Bahrain and nine sheikhs were all embarking on a motorcycle tour of Ireland together.

What's the biggest mistake you've made in business?
I didn't seek the advice and support from the businesspeople who matter. I should have asked for more help from enterprise boards and tourism boards but I didn't think to do so. I have a team around me now and each person is far better at their job than I am. They have skill sets that I don't.

We had a window blind and curtain business, which we set up in the summer of 1993. It went bust last Christmas. It was completely dependent on the local economy, the Irish market. At the height of the boom, when lots of new housing estates were being built, there was a huge demand for blinds and curtain. That demand disappeared with the property crash.

Thankfully, our motorcycle business isn’t dependent on the Irish market. However, it is dependent on air transport. We had numerous cancellations during the volcanic ash cloud and that impacted our revenues in 2010.

What was the best piece of business advice you've ever received?
Be realistic with your dreams. Before setting up your business, you should ask yourself: "If my business idea grows and becomes what I hope, will the reward justify the enormous efforts to create and build it?" It can take as much effort to make €500 of profit as €1 of profit. You can't say "I'm only going to work a certain number of hours."

Who do you most admire in business and why?
Superquinn founder Feargal Quinn. I will always remember whilst shopping with my wife Siobhán and our very young children, he stopped us in his supermarket and asked us questions about our experiences shopping there. I think it's very important to get the opinion of customers and make sure they are happy.

What piece of advice would you give to the Government to stimulate the economy?
Give SMEs incentives to take risks. The Government should have a Dragons Den-style approach whereby SMEs pitch a Government agency for funding and, if the agency like it, it can invest and receive a stake in the business.

The Government should also encourage entrepreneurship by having it as a subject in schools, and also reduce the local authority rates to reflect services provided for the building’s size. Across the board, local authority rates are too high. We don’t see anything tangible for the amount of money we pay.

Do you think the banks are open for business at the moment?
AIB has been hugely supportive of us. Last year, when we wanted new motorcycles, we approached them and they gave us the money. When we started the business, we didn't think about any other funding methods, but we do now. We have gone to Fingal Enterprise Board on several occasions and it helped us financially.

One time we went to them as we really needed to go to motorcycle trade shows abroad to promote our business, but didn’t have the money. We didn’t think they would help as they had already helped us on several occasions, but they did.

What is the short-term future of the business?
Increasing the number of people using our self-guided tours. We spent a lot of time creating them, finding the best routes and accommodation along those routes. Accommodation, breakfast, a pre-programmed satellite navigation system etc are all included in the price.

We introduced them in 2011, and 71 customers bought them that year. So far this year 125 customers have gone on them.

How much is your business worth and would you sell it?
Financially the business is growing year-on-year so there is a value in monetary terms. However, it's not for sale. I love the business, the people I meet and the many happy stories I'm involved in creating as a result of this business.

In conversation with Pamela Newenham