Formerly a chartered surveyor, Mr Polglase was growing tired of the mileage that following that career entailed and longed for a more settled existence.
Together with their four children, the couple had returned to Mr Polglase's native Cornwall from Down Under in 2001 and were looking for a suitable business to run from their smallholding when they came up with the idea of a website selling trampolines.
Mr Polglase was fascinated by what the internet could do for "people living on the edge" and was quick to recognise that living in a remote area need not hinder such a business.
The other advantage of an internet business – in the early days, at least – was that it would be a low-cost start-up. "We just didn't have any significant money to put into it," Mr Polglase admits. "It also fitted in with our family ethos of getting the kids outside to do some exercise and keep healthy, away from the TV and the computer.
"And when we tried to buy our own trampoline, we found it impossible to get any real advice so we decided to offer a range of trampolines, together with real insight into what we thought made a given model good or bad."
The timing couldn't have been better. "Back then," he recalls, "trampolines were huge in Australia but barely existed here." As anyone with children knows, they have since exploded on to the UK market and the Polglases were there from the off.
Sourcing high-quality goods from importers and operating under the name West Country Trampolines, the business soon found itself right near the top of Google searches. It looked as if the Polglases had hit a hole in one and, keen to expand, they rebranded the business as
http://www.bouncyhappypeople.co.uk/. "We felt the old name sounded too parochial and we wanted to widen our range to include other activity toys and wooden eco toys for educational and year round play."
Buoyed by their success, they then decided to plough a large investment, raised through remortgaging their house, into a new, state-of-the-art, fully-integrated website but they could not have foreseen the chain of events that was about to unfold and threaten the business's survival.
The recession hit, the supermarkets moved into the market with cheaper, lower-spec models and the new website saw their search ranking drop off a cliff. "Things were very scary and it was a huge economic hiccup for us, but there were some silver linings," says Mr Polglase philosophically. "I had shaken hands on an office, shop and small warehouse but were gazumped at the last minute. With hindsight we realised that it was the best thing that could have happened as growth eased back."
Another plus-point is that the couple have learnt to do jobs in-house they previously outsourced, most notably their internet marketing campaign on Google AdWords and their search engine optimisation work.
The result has been tangible. Website traffic over Christmas was up 35pc on the previous year. Search engine results are almost back to where they were and the overall profitability of the business is on the rise. Diversification has paid off, too, as wooden toys now account for a larger part of the business than trampolines.
A goal for the coming year is to include a lot more content about the products online, including video.
And although all the products are currently sourced through importers in the UK, Mr Polglase would like to explore the potential of producing toys under his own brand.
"That's something for the future, when we can finance it. For the moment, we want to concentrate on getting our customer focus right."
RECESSION TOOL KIT
? Keep positive: you will come out stronger and wiser.
? Keep the bank informed.
? Value suppliers.
STARTING OUT
Do
? Start with a short, costed, plan.
? Be responsible for mistakes and deal with them quickly.
Don't
? Hand anything to "experts" without understanding what they are doing, and do look to bring or add that skill or tool in-house if needed more than once.
? Put your house on the line.
? Forget to have fun and remember why you started. One of the primary drivers for Patrick Polglase and his Australian wife, Pen, to start their own businesses was the desire to work from home.
FACTFILE
Names: Patrick and Pen Polglase
Company: Bouncy Happy People
Founded: 2005
Start-up funds: About £5,000
Staff: Two full time and two part time
Turnover: About £460,000
Is this trampoline in the most beautiful locations in the world? Imagine jumping on this trampoline as the sun sets!
Tools needed: long screwdriver, trampoline fixing kit, 15 minutes.
Great idea for a trampoline safety at a wedding party. The trampoline is a Berg Favorit with no safety net- but made safer and accessible by surrounding with straw bales. Multiple users on the trampoline are not recommended but kids were all around the same age.
Children love throwing themselves along the aqua slide on a hot day. Amazing how much fun can be had with the tp 75 aqua slide and level grass imaging how much more fun could be had with a slope and a proper tp rapide slide to start the speed