Part 135 Survey Questions

[jshaff]

I am in the research phase of developing a small 135 operation. I am putting a survey together that I will be sending to perspective clientele. I have quite a few questions, but would like help generating the "correct" questions to ask.

Basically, I am trying to find what the companies in my area want and need from an air service.

If you were generating such a survey, what would be some questions you would include?

Thank you for your help.

-jshaff

 

[mike1mc]

Here are some ideas:

1) Type of aircraft needed (Jet/Prop/Turboprop)

2) Types of trips (roadshows, quick drops, sit and wait, lots of RONs)

3) Types of clients (personal trips or business)

4) Demographic information

Just to get the ball rolling.

 

[atpcliff]

Hi!


Here are some good questions to ask yourself.

How much money am I willing to lose, as chances are, you will lose whatever money you put in.

How fast do I think I will lost all my money? Multiply your expected answer by about 3X as you will burn through cash in a rate far beyond your wildest dreams.

How much money and time will I have to put in to this business before I even am able to make the first takeoff? You'll spend a TON of time and money just trying to get your operation "off the ground".

If you want to have the slightest chance of success:
Create the most negative business plan you can imagine, and figure out how much startup capital you will need. Increase this amount by 50%, because you have no idea what things will pop up and cost you tons of money. Then, take your business plan capital (multiplied by 50% for contingencies), and double the entire amount.

Chances are, you won't be able to raise that kind of money, so you will start with a lot less. After about 18 months, if you even last that long, you will see you don't have enough capital to make it.

My advice: Choose a business that you have a chance of making money at.

Cliff
GRB

 

[350DRIVER]

If I was the company that you are approaching then here is my biggest questions..

1) Can I justify the "added" expenses of wanting to charter an aircraft?


2) Is there really a "need" to do this?


3) How much travel must I do to justify this?


4) Is this a must?


You need to come up with some sort of proposal to "sell" this idea and get the potential company interested in doing this.

This "charter" business is a mean animal that doesn't make a whole lot of money. Most of the charter companies that make the money are those that only "manage" and crew the equipment versus owning it. I surely would not throw your life savings away on this gamble, best thing to do is get others interested and take the gamble using their money.


manage, lease, crew, but do not buy aircraft in hopes of making money with a charter department.


3 5 0

 

[philo beddoe]

I don't like to correct spelling errors, but since you are going to be sending out business communications, you may be glad in the long run.

You want to solicit prospective clients. As in a business prospect.

Perspective means point of view.

Bad spelling and usage can kill your chances with a new client. Personally, I throw out any and all resumes with errors like these, and if I received a brochure with such an error, it would be gone as well. Unless the price is really good.


At any rate, see what other 135 operations are using for aircraft and find out what they charge. Then make the following decision.

Am I going to use the same type of aircraft and try to beat their price or customer service level? This may work if the local competition is not doing their job well.

Option 2 would be to find a niche market. If your competition is all jet, go with turboprops. If they have 10 King Airs (or would that be Kings Air, kinda like mothers-in-law?), maybe do piston aircraft.

Don't bother doing a lot of math to figure out your pricing, either.

Call the competition, get a quote, then decide if you can make money charging the same rate.

 

[ThomasR]

New Business

I am in the research phase of developing a small 135 operation. I am putting a survey together that I will be sending to perspective clientele. I have quite a few questions, but would like help generating the "correct" questions to ask.

Basically, I am trying to find what the companies in my area want and need from an air service.

If you were generating such a survey, what would be some questions you would include?

Thank you for your help.

-jshaff

Man I really am surprised. I have seen people attempt to live on their own enthusiasm for success. It was tuff to watch. I fly helicopters and those 135 operations I have been close to started when helicopters were a phenomena back in the early 1950's. One lesson I learned in business school is " don't compete with big business !" They are mean and they will lure you into a false sense of accomplishment and when you least expect it they will under cut you and send your punk ass into bankruptcy. And those are the words they will be using around the water cooler [not my words; they are unsympathetic toward competition].

I don't know, maybe you have some inside information we all are missing. But if you are having a ruff time now trying to figure out if there is any interest in a particular area, it does not boast well of confidence. Large firms scoure the world looking for opportunities to expand their own interests. Those who break off from large firms to start their own small business do so with "inside information." And these are the people who literally live in their aircraft the first three or four years of business.

I, by no means, am a guru of success but statistics are hard to ignore, and three of five small business fail the first two years and four of five fail after three to five years. Success is a process of MONEY and MANAGEMENT; it has less to do with product or service. If you have enough money and know how you can sell pet rocks and make a profit.

It might be you have no other options. If that is the case and you are in a desperate situation for employment then jump in and hope you can sell the idea based on results to a lending institution to get financed, take on partners and sell shares to keep in business. However, desperate situations force people into desperate measures.

Error on the Side of Safety

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