There are two truths in aviation.  One, you can make a lot of money teaching and two; a lot of people don't believe it.   I've got 25 years of sales experience and have proved that attracting the right customers is the key to success.  Every month, I'll share some of the "sales secrets" which have helped me and can help you too. 

   

Last month we talked about how to differentiate your self and get more clients by charging more than other local flight instructors.  This month we are going to talk about teaching vs. owning a traditional flight school. What's the difference between teaching and owning a flight school?  An independent instructor will always make more money than the owner of a flight school.  

   

But wait you say, if I own the flight school, I can make money on the airplane rentals, and charge monthly members, and buy a simulator, and sells supplies.   It's true you will have a higher income but, you will make less money, because you pay all the overhead like, rent, utilities, payroll, payroll taxes, business licenses, accounting and legal expenses. Before you start building your flight school, you need to know a very important term R.O.I.

   

R.O.I. means return on investment.  It's a standard measurement that many business people don't use and it's the biggest reason flight schools fail.  Let's do a very simple example.  If your monthly investment for a flight school is made up of $1200 for rent and utilities.  That means if you keep teaching, at $50 per hour, you have to work for 24 hours just to pay for the school and you won't get any of it!  An independent instructor has much lower overhead and only has to work 3 hours to cover costs.

As a flight school owner for almost 10 years I have worked at least 20-30 hours per week just running the business.  Scheduling, customer service, employees, airplane maintenance, taxes, paperwork, billing, emails, and phone calls will use up your life and they are unpaid activities.  Money you earn of rentals etc will have to cover this.  If you get paid $50 per hour as an instructor this means unless you make a profit of at least $1000 per week and take it all home as a salary you will be making less money than if you were teaching.  Income does not equal profit.

   

So why did I own a flight school?  There are three really great things about it.  My brand name is on the building, I get to make all the rules, and it sounds cool when I tell people I own a flight school.  In other words owning a flight school is good for the ego.  I'm not saying you can't make money owning a flight school but it comes at a cost.  The biggest cost for me, besides making less money per hour, is that I didn't have time to teach or fly. This is why I've closed the brick and mortar school and become a virtual flight school.  A virtual flight school exists on the Internet, in branding, and provides instruction.  The student just pays someone else for the airplane rental.

   

You partner with one or more existing brick and mortar flight schools and use their airplanes and infrastructure.  Trust me the owners will love you for renting their airplanes, as long as you respect their rules.  It also allows you much more freedom and time to do what you love, flying! 

   

Did I get it right or wrong?  What are your experiences with owning a flight school?  Let me know [email protected]

 

About the Author:

Gary Reeves, is a two-time Master Instructor, FAA Safety Team Lead Rep, National Public Speaker, Flight School Owner, and a proud member of S.A.F.E.  To learn more about him please visit www.PilotSafety.org