Executives' names: Kate Lister & Tom Harnish
Title: Bosslady & Chief Pilot
Company name: A1 Biplane, Air Combat & Warbird Adventures
Address: 2016 Palomar Airport Road, Carlsbad
Phone: (760) 930-0903
Web site: http://www.barnstorming.com
Founded: 1992
Prior experience: Kate: Commercial banker, venture capitalist, business consultant, Inc. Magazine “Entrepreneur of the Year” finalist. Tom: former-Navy flier, computer company senior scientist, electronic publishing company founder, aviation world speed record holder.
Source of starting capital: Personal savings and SBA loan.
2003 revenues: More than a real job in revenue, less than a real job in profits.
2004 revenues: More than 2003 (in both).
Average hours worked weekly: 60
Number of teammates: Twenty of the world’s best pilots, crew, and office help.
Residence: Carlsbad, Calif.
Family: Kate’s family lives in Philadelphia and New Jersey. Her 84-year-old father still delivers 1,000 newspapers, 7 days a week. Tom has a son in Phoenix and a daughter in Albuquerque, where his folks also live. Our six grandkids range in age from minus .5 to 17.
Hobbies: Kate: Business, gardening, travel, exercise. Tom: astronomy, photography, PC-based on-line auto racing.
What got you into this business? 1. Pantyhose, Kate hated wearing them. (Tom too.) 2. We wanted to spend all day, every day together. 3. We were tired of the corporate rat race.
What makes your business a standout? It’s the oldest, largest, and darn-near onlyest business like it in the country — and therefore also the bestest. As a result, we attract lots of media attention and the “best of the best” pilots and crew. Our current and former crew includes Army and Navy test pilots, a U-2 spyplane pilot, Top Gun grads, F/A-18 pilots, airline captains, a for-real rocket scientist, and a former record company honcho. We have to pinch ourselves sometimes.
Drawbacks to your line of business? We’re at the mercy of the weather. 2005’s been horrible so far (at least by Carlsbad’s high standards). If anyone knows any anti-rain dances, let us know.
Why is your company headquartered in Carlsbad? We started the business in Philadelphia. After two years of thunderstorms in the summer and snowstorms in the winter, we decided we either had to move somewhere we could fly year-round or go back to real jobs. The latter wasn’t in the cards. So we did a search of 30 years of NOAA weather history using the parameters: 300+ sunny days per year, rainfall less than 10 inches a year, clouds higher than 1,000 feet, and temperatures less than 90 degrees. San Diego topped the list. We came to San Diego on a scouting trip when the flower fields happened to be in bloom and fell in love with Carlsbad.
How do you plan to grow? Within the next couple of months, we’ll be breaking ground on an aviation museum at the Palomar Airport. Ace Skyloop Studios and Discovery Center will focus on aviation in the movies, offer some very special learning opportunities, and will be a unique non-hotel venue for North County corporate events.
Toughest career decision: Someday we’ll write a book about this business titled “On a Wing, Without a Prayer.” Everyone thought we were crazy to trade our business suits for flightsuits, and in a way, we were. We abandoned all of our safety nets for something we were passionate about. It’s been hard work and we’ll never get rich doing this, but the joy we share with customers and the fun we have with the folks we work alongside of make us wealthy beyond measure. We wouldn’t trade the last 12 years for anything.
Ongoing challenges: Staying profitable with all the regulatory, tax, workers' compensation, and insurance burdens.
Best way to stay competitive: Be the best at what you do.
In five years, where would you like your business to be? We have high expectations for our museum. We hope it will become a Carlsbad/San Diego “must do.” We hope the museum will inspire young minds to think for themselves and follow their dreams.
What does your company contribute to the Carlsbad community? What we do is unique. Feature stories about what we do have run in newspapers, magazines and on TV shows all over the world. People drive and fly to San Diego/Carlsbad from all over the world just to fly with us. Corporate incentive groups from companies such as Ford, Pfizer, Microsoft, Lexus, Merck, and over 50 others treat their top performers, customers, and clients to our biplane rides and air combat.
What are your guiding principles? Our mission statement sums it up: “Our mission is to avoid having a real Mission Statement. Or, God forbid, wear pantyhose. Either of us. In the end, our mission is just like everyone else’s – Get Cookie. Eat Cookie. Get More Cookies. “
What’s one thing other people do not know about you? Kate gets motion sick walking around a corner too fast. Tom’s afraid of heights. Go figure.
What would you change if you could do it all over again? Start with a lot of money. The way to make a small fortune in aviation, they say, it to start with a big one.
Choice for a second career: Writers. When Tom and I started this business, we wrote a couple of boring but successful business books about financing and venture capital for John Wiley and Sons. (Finding Money – The Small Business Guide to Financing and The Directory of Venture Capital.) It helped pay the bills and was immensely satisfying. “On A Wing, Without A Prayer” might be our next title, but others include “Hormones, Guns and Related Topics,” on the joys of menopause; “The Southern Californian’s Guide to Surviving House Guests,” prompted by living in this beautiful place; and “Wow! Really?” a collection of the science facts and foolishness that keeps Tom up at night.
People you look up to and why: Kate: 1.) My husband and partner, Tom Harnish. As the song goes he's “the wind beneath my wings.” We’re truly a team. 2.) My father. He taught me to follow my heart. Tom: 1.) My wife, who is a far better businessman than I am; and 2.) Physicist and Nobel Prize winner Richard Feynman, who also enjoyed playing bongos and picking locks.
Favorite movie: “Moulin Rouge.”
Favorite quote: “Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.” Theodore Roosevelt.
Advice for new entrepreneurs: They say the nice thing about owning your own business is you only have to work half days. Our advice: Decide which 12 hours. Small business ownership is hard work. And it’s also a risky proposition. If you’re not passionate about what you do, you’ll have a hard time staying the course. If you do have the passion, ignore conventional wisdom. That’s for corporate weenies.
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Title: Bosslady & Chief Pilot
Company name: A1 Biplane, Air Combat & Warbird Adventures
Address: 2016 Palomar Airport Road, Carlsbad
Phone: (760) 930-0903
Web site: http://www.barnstorming.com
Founded: 1992
Prior experience: Kate: Commercial banker, venture capitalist, business consultant, Inc. Magazine “Entrepreneur of the Year” finalist. Tom: former-Navy flier, computer company senior scientist, electronic publishing company founder, aviation world speed record holder.
Source of starting capital: Personal savings and SBA loan.
2003 revenues: More than a real job in revenue, less than a real job in profits.
2004 revenues: More than 2003 (in both).
Average hours worked weekly: 60
Number of teammates: Twenty of the world’s best pilots, crew, and office help.
Residence: Carlsbad, Calif.
Family: Kate’s family lives in Philadelphia and New Jersey. Her 84-year-old father still delivers 1,000 newspapers, 7 days a week. Tom has a son in Phoenix and a daughter in Albuquerque, where his folks also live. Our six grandkids range in age from minus .5 to 17.
Hobbies: Kate: Business, gardening, travel, exercise. Tom: astronomy, photography, PC-based on-line auto racing.
What got you into this business? 1. Pantyhose, Kate hated wearing them. (Tom too.) 2. We wanted to spend all day, every day together. 3. We were tired of the corporate rat race.
What makes your business a standout? It’s the oldest, largest, and darn-near onlyest business like it in the country — and therefore also the bestest. As a result, we attract lots of media attention and the “best of the best” pilots and crew. Our current and former crew includes Army and Navy test pilots, a U-2 spyplane pilot, Top Gun grads, F/A-18 pilots, airline captains, a for-real rocket scientist, and a former record company honcho. We have to pinch ourselves sometimes.
Drawbacks to your line of business? We’re at the mercy of the weather. 2005’s been horrible so far (at least by Carlsbad’s high standards). If anyone knows any anti-rain dances, let us know.
Why is your company headquartered in Carlsbad? We started the business in Philadelphia. After two years of thunderstorms in the summer and snowstorms in the winter, we decided we either had to move somewhere we could fly year-round or go back to real jobs. The latter wasn’t in the cards. So we did a search of 30 years of NOAA weather history using the parameters: 300+ sunny days per year, rainfall less than 10 inches a year, clouds higher than 1,000 feet, and temperatures less than 90 degrees. San Diego topped the list. We came to San Diego on a scouting trip when the flower fields happened to be in bloom and fell in love with Carlsbad.
How do you plan to grow? Within the next couple of months, we’ll be breaking ground on an aviation museum at the Palomar Airport. Ace Skyloop Studios and Discovery Center will focus on aviation in the movies, offer some very special learning opportunities, and will be a unique non-hotel venue for North County corporate events.
Toughest career decision: Someday we’ll write a book about this business titled “On a Wing, Without a Prayer.” Everyone thought we were crazy to trade our business suits for flightsuits, and in a way, we were. We abandoned all of our safety nets for something we were passionate about. It’s been hard work and we’ll never get rich doing this, but the joy we share with customers and the fun we have with the folks we work alongside of make us wealthy beyond measure. We wouldn’t trade the last 12 years for anything.
Ongoing challenges: Staying profitable with all the regulatory, tax, workers' compensation, and insurance burdens.
Best way to stay competitive: Be the best at what you do.
In five years, where would you like your business to be? We have high expectations for our museum. We hope it will become a Carlsbad/San Diego “must do.” We hope the museum will inspire young minds to think for themselves and follow their dreams.
What does your company contribute to the Carlsbad community? What we do is unique. Feature stories about what we do have run in newspapers, magazines and on TV shows all over the world. People drive and fly to San Diego/Carlsbad from all over the world just to fly with us. Corporate incentive groups from companies such as Ford, Pfizer, Microsoft, Lexus, Merck, and over 50 others treat their top performers, customers, and clients to our biplane rides and air combat.
What are your guiding principles? Our mission statement sums it up: “Our mission is to avoid having a real Mission Statement. Or, God forbid, wear pantyhose. Either of us. In the end, our mission is just like everyone else’s – Get Cookie. Eat Cookie. Get More Cookies. “
What’s one thing other people do not know about you? Kate gets motion sick walking around a corner too fast. Tom’s afraid of heights. Go figure.
What would you change if you could do it all over again? Start with a lot of money. The way to make a small fortune in aviation, they say, it to start with a big one.
Choice for a second career: Writers. When Tom and I started this business, we wrote a couple of boring but successful business books about financing and venture capital for John Wiley and Sons. (Finding Money – The Small Business Guide to Financing and The Directory of Venture Capital.) It helped pay the bills and was immensely satisfying. “On A Wing, Without A Prayer” might be our next title, but others include “Hormones, Guns and Related Topics,” on the joys of menopause; “The Southern Californian’s Guide to Surviving House Guests,” prompted by living in this beautiful place; and “Wow! Really?” a collection of the science facts and foolishness that keeps Tom up at night.
People you look up to and why: Kate: 1.) My husband and partner, Tom Harnish. As the song goes he's “the wind beneath my wings.” We’re truly a team. 2.) My father. He taught me to follow my heart. Tom: 1.) My wife, who is a far better businessman than I am; and 2.) Physicist and Nobel Prize winner Richard Feynman, who also enjoyed playing bongos and picking locks.
Favorite movie: “Moulin Rouge.”
Favorite quote: “Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.” Theodore Roosevelt.
Advice for new entrepreneurs: They say the nice thing about owning your own business is you only have to work half days. Our advice: Decide which 12 hours. Small business ownership is hard work. And it’s also a risky proposition. If you’re not passionate about what you do, you’ll have a hard time staying the course. If you do have the passion, ignore conventional wisdom. That’s for corporate weenies.
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