Did the Entrepreneur Identify Specific Opportunities When Starting up a New Firm? Ryanair
Did the entrepreneur identify specific opportunities when starting up a new firm?
While working as a leasing manager for Aer Lingus – the first founded airline in Ireland, Tony Ryan thoroughly began to study the aviation market and to plan a new venture to take on.
From experience, Ryan realised that the demand for aircraft could not be met from temporary over-capacity of airlines, seeking short-term homes for their unused bad conditioned fleet. While staying in Asia for working purposes, Ryan had seen the way things were done there and returned to Ireland, determined to run the start-up leasing company Guiness Peat Aviation, backed by the well-known international airline Aer Lingus. Eventually, it was agreed that Ryan would get a 10 % shareholding in GPA.
He went around the world, searching for new business for GPA and gathered knowledge within the aviation industry. He noted names of people, by whom he was impressed with an idea to recruit them in the future and every year he would write down 19 objectives he wanted to achieve.GPAs revenue grew rapidly and was on its way to achieve its primary objective – becoming the worlds biggest aircraft leaser. As a GPA chairman and chief executive, Ryan became one of the wealthiest entrepreneurs in Ireland, worth more than £50 million.
Ryan started making private investments and planned new potential aviation ventures, founded on his extensive knowledge of the industry. Particularly, he saw the opportunity to appeal directly to the passenger market and the need for a liberal aviation service throughout Europe. He put a proposal to the Irish Government for an airline, which would provide simple, cheap and efficient service. Unfortunately, his proposal and ideas for deregulation were rejected.
However, he wanted to be in the passenger airline business and had the strong desire to compete with Aer Lingus. He identified the opportunity to acquire