Creation of a company
Until 2013, I worked as an airline broker. Among my duties was to search for the aircraft on request, its preparation and flight control. Since I was inside the system and saw customer requests, I had an understanding of what services could be added to achieve even greater customer loyalty.
The management of the company did not react to my initiative with enthusiasm and did not consider it necessary to consider opportunities to improve service when the business was already working. In the end, I realized that I wanted to make such decisions myself, and not enter into difficult negotiations to become even better.
In 2013, I created the Global Group Business Aviation & Concierge. According to my idea, the company should be not just an air broker, but a concierge service that is able to close both basic and additional customer requests. As it turned out later, we created a new and highly sought-after niche.
Initial investments for the creation of the company amounted to about 300 thousand rubles. I spent them on registering an LLC, renting an office, initial expenses for employees and launching a website.
Opening the company made it easier to not have to find a target audience – we worked with my regular customers. Word of mouth helped to get new ones - we were recommended with the mark "they can solve any request related to the flight."
The second wave of new customers we received on cold sales, which work well with the target audience. So we formed a pool of loyal customers.
It was very difficult to assemble a good team in the beginning.
Honestly, staff is one of the most difficult stories. Almost everything has to be taught on its own.
The specificity of our profession is such that a lot depends on the personal qualities of a person. Therefore, the search for personnel is a separate complex process, there is only manual selection, which I can not trust anyone.
When hiring an employee, I evaluate his social networks because they can affect my reputation, ask personal questions to understand how attentive a person is to detail, flexible in decision-making.
The main criterion is the totality of professional competencies of a person and his personal qualities, because in our business there is a lot of personal communication with the client, and the cost of error is extremely high.
When applying for a job, I sympathize with young professionals, but there is an unpleasant trend that has only intensified recently - many of them do not see and do not want to see their future and earn money. Freedom and creativity matter more to them, and they interpret those concepts in all sorts of ways.
As employees, I appreciate hard work, dedication, love for myself and my life, the desire to gain new knowledge and improve skills.
Personal qualities are great, but it is better when they work in conjunction with professional ones. I believe that to be a good worker, it is not enough to be a good person. So sometimes I had to say goodbye to people who I liked humanly but didn't know how to work or did not want to.
Also in our work, it is extremely important that the employee can easily get out of a conflict situation and at the right time make the necessary decision on his own.
The main search for recruitment we conduct on profile sites, recruiting agencies, as well as among friends and on the recommendation of colleagues. Now our team is:
- Managers who deal with jets,
- staff involved in the travel team,
- Concierge service specialists,
- flight-tracking managers,
- Specialists involved in passenger logistics,
- Employees who manage the office,
- accounting,
- IT specialists.
How business works
This market is structured as follows: there is a pool of aviation brokers. Today, there are about 200 of them in Russia, and about 20 large ones. In fact, all these companies are engaged in the management of private aircraft.
Almost all aircraft are either owned by individuals or organizations, or owned by airlines. Most business jets are based in Moscow, the most popular airport - Vnukovo-3, less busy - Sheremetyevo and Domodedovo.
When I first started my business, there were fewer companies in the market. Now the situation has changed and the number of players has doubled. But many are quickly leaving, unable to withstand the competition.
Some people think it’s a simple business, but it’s an illusion. In fact, this area requires a very clear structure, 24/7 engagement, and a lot of different nuances. It is very important to keep your finger on the pulse, maintain relationships and monitor the external situation. Since the market is partially closed, it is difficult for beginners to do this.
It is worth noting that recently this segment has fallen significantly – we feel the decline and reduction of budgets. For the New Year, for example, flew 40% fewer flights. I don't know why.
This did not affect us in any way, just customers began to pay more attention to costs and became more rational. After the holidays, the dynamics went up again, and everything returned to our expected indicators. We are now actively planning for the summer.
The cost of the flight consists of fixed and variable costs. Variables are airport fees, fuel, permits, reserves, they make 70-75% in the price of the hour. The category of permanent includes the cost of crew, insurance and so on.
The most popular destinations today are Nice, Pisa, Geneva, Milan, Ibiza, London and Sochi, and if we talk about longer flights, the Maldives, Seychelles and America. I would also like to note that in recent years the Greek islands, such as Mykonos, Africa and other exotic destinations, have become very popular.
In business aviation, there is the concept of Empty Leg, or “empty leg”. It means a flight without passengers from the home airport after a flight or, conversely, an approach to a passenger at another airport. To reduce the cost of such empty flights, operators put them on the market at a discount of 20 to 70% – this is what many business passengers like to use.
Many businesses and families fly this way because it’s so convenient. You can be sure that they will wait for you, if something happens, there will be a delivery of food from your favorite restaurant. And, of course, there is a big plus in the fact that there are no strangers on the plane and you can comfortably spend this time with loved ones or solve any working issues.
Working with clients
Today, our clients are private and corporate individuals. In percentage terms, they are divided almost equally.
If we consider the market as a whole, it is quite specific and gives rise to many myths around itself. The most common is to fly a private plane is very expensive. But the cost of renting a private jet is comparable to business-class tickets for two families or a small company.
For example, it is more profitable for corporations to order a private aircraft for their management team - often it turns out to be cheaper, besides, this is a great opportunity for negotiations.
We work 24/7 and can arrange a flight two hours after the confirmation of the aircraft. The problem with this business is that a lot of things don’t depend on you. Therefore, it is vital to work out each stage, nuance and service in detail. My job is to track every step of the entire team. I ask you to guide me along the route as a client would.
When searching for a particular aircraft, we request information from the vessels that are available and analyze it. We choose the aircraft with a suitable price and year of release for us.
This is a crucial point, as we have customers who fly certain types of aircraft and if it is not available then we try to find a similar option or convince the customer to switch to another type of vessel, but this is extremely rare. There are times when we need to pick up a crew at the request of our customers.
We are always ready to fulfill everything, even the most unusual desires of the customer. Sometimes, on request, we specially pick up the plane from Europe. Then we are engaged in the coordination of the board, obtaining permits, determining the time of approach of the aircraft, its refueling, loading catering, ordering a cleaning service.
We operate in strict confidentiality mode, and it is impossible to know from us where a particular plane flew or where the aircraft was during the month. We do not disclose this information even to close relatives.
The peculiarity of my work is that it is difficult to surprise me with some unusual request. And with the help of composure, I can handle almost any situation. Of course, there are negative moments. Almost all of them are related to the human factor, and often they are impossible to predict.
For example, yesterday the driver did a perfect job, and today his wife left him, and he simply can not work at the proper level.
But many customers simply do not give the right to error. In such situations, we do everything and even a little more to fix the situation and show how important each client is to us.
Personally, I do not react to the negative in any way and teach my team to do the same. They are the point of safety that must always be objective and calm, no matter what happens outside.
Of course, there are unusual requests and curious situations. For example, a couple of times they delivered flowers to the girls by private plane. But the most memorable request was to organize a flight to distant islands and find a local operator who could pick up a grave there for our client.
Advancement
We don’t do advertising as such. The word of mouth helps us – very often we are advised to friends and colleagues. Oddly enough, social networks work with private customers - orders often come from there.
Currently, the peak of flight activity falls on the pre-New Year days and on all official holidays. In general, I do not feel the market decline. Requests for directions have changed, now exotic ones are gaining popularity more and more. In the next two or three years, I plan to open offices in Europe or America.
Here are the top 5 qualities without which development in this business will not work:
- determination,
- the desire to grow and gain new knowledge,
- Stress resistance,
- communication skills,
- Structure.
Source: RUSBASE
