so... small business ownership...

[RitterKreuz]

personally im not leaning in either direction just yet.

I saw a vehicle similar to mine with an ad for a place where you could go sky diving at a nearby airport.

It was a nice little car, late model, devoid of any graphics or other decals, and on the rear window there was a clear sticker, with plain white text.

There was a company logo and it said something like "Skydive Gladewater" and had a phone number.

very simple really.

IF i went with an ad, it would be similar. clear decal on the rather large rear window of my car. which is a 2008 Chevy Cobalt, black, no accents or decals anywhere else on the car.

only thing on the decal would be a logo (similar to pilot wings), the business name and a phone number.

total size of the text... well 19" monitor might be an exaggeration, in real life it would probably be just large enough to read from one or two car lengths without having to ride my bumper.

I have already laid out my cost of the operation with as many variables as i can think of, and there is little left over for radio spots (a flight school i worked for did a radio spot for one month... cost them close to a thousand dollars) and i especially have little funding to entertain the idea of a TV ad.  ::)

i figured that the next best thing would be to use my personal vehicle as a "Company vehicle" with an ad somewhere on the car. as i have seen a number of people do this. however, im not sure what other people think so i thought i would ask around before committing to such a thing.

[Mushroom_Farmer]

  And with using your vehicle as a company vehicle you get certain tax advantages.

[RitterKreuz]

well i did think of that at least  ;D

furthermore... the fuel the aircraft uses, the oil it uses, any maintenance requirments etc could also be partially written off.

and someone asked me if flight schools qualified for tax exempt status, i didnt know the answer. i have never thought of it. it would be nice to go to the store to purchase supplies with a tax exemption!

[Hagar]

You might have already thought of this but I think a website is more important. I don't know how it's done in the States but presumably your new flight school will be based at an airfield. The first thing I would do if I wanted to find a local flight school would be to look up all the airfields in my area to see what they have to offer & compare prices etc. Most airfields in this country have their own websites with direct links to the various businesses based there. I don't know if these companies pay anything for this but I always assumed it was free as it all benefits the airfield. A website doesn't need to be elaborate or cost much, providing it's easy to navigate & find the necessary information.

Here's a couple of examples.
Goodwood Airfield
Popham Airfield
Shoreham Airport

Once it's up & running you can extend it at your leisure. If you use a suitable name for your company prospective customers should soon find you listed on Google & other search engines.

[JBaymore]

Ritterkruz,

One of the most important things that you can do right now is to, at the very LEAST, go get some books on "small businesss management".

[RitterKreuz]

really excellent advice john... which has been taken to heart by yours truly.

Im at the local community college right now for that very reason. In the very least... my "road map" calls for my gaining an associates degree in business management. that is in progress as we speak (or rather type and read).

I have developed a rather decent excel spread sheet which details the cost, income, and profit of the operation. these numbers are based on modest figures which assumes business will initially be quite slow. (and yes i did it right so that as the price of fuel etc changes... that change will affect various things within the spread sheet)

I have determined that it is a fair assumption that i can at least turn a profit which would be roughly equivalent to my earnings as a regional airline first officer.

start up capitalization has been my number two priority... (my current ongoing education holding the number one spot)

one place where i am fortunate... i have two good friends who have both run relatively successful flight schools at one point or another in their aviation careers - they are available for me to "bend their ears" once in a while. and im very glad for that!  :D

as far as a business plan goes... i have more of a "time line" which details when i want the pieces to the puzzle to start coming together.

the "time line" is actually quite modest, and the first - small pieces dont even start to formulate for another 2 years at best.

short answer... i want this thing to be my baby. and im going to do what it takes to assure success. even if it means cutting into my bottom line to hire a second or even a third flight instructor if the business grows that large - God willing  ;D

if it comes to failure...

... I would have rather tried and failed, than never tried at all  :-/

[agentyumi]

Advertising nowadays costs large amount money but there were still sites from which you can advertise your product/service.

Using a vehicle as an advertisement location can lessen the expenses when it comes to advertising.  The 2 choices are an explainable statement for this.

A. It is a smart, cost effective way to generate revenue and attract customers which might not have otherwise known about your business, is a meaning of this.

B. Its a tacky self promotion which looks stupid on the back of someones car window, and it says to you ''this person cant to enough business to afford real advertising!"

They