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JSBIRD 1
It will be the best of times...
and it will be the worst of times.
359
in a quiet little town,
and forgot about everything"
Some years back, Roger Nelson found himself in a position of having a lotta 'spare' time on his hands.
Redirecting his entrepreneurial skills more exclusively toward his skydiving interests, Roger authored several papers regarding areas of the sport that were in need of improvement in order to keep pace with where he believed the whole thing was headed.
One such endeavor was an 'A to Z' soup & nuts business plan on how to start and grow a successful commercial drop-zone...
I've never seen one, but have heard about some of the things contained within. I understand it's a fantastic road-map for someone with the right combination of motivation and resources.
I guess it pretty much lays out the how to from ideal locations, property procurement, facilities design, creative aircraft financing...everything one needs to know.
From what I understand it was conceived long before the current SDC, and that drop-zone is built on the business plan blueprint.
Those who've been to Spaceland as well as skydive Chicago can easily recognise the similarities.
Don't know if it's still available of how useful it might be considering the current business environment, but interesting someone would actually address the business of commercial skydiving operations...AS a business!
~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~
Quoteand was again on a two hour wait. ..."
.....................................................................................................
No sympathy for that Neanderthal!
2 HOURS? Wow. What is the reason for this long a wait anyway
Exactly what others mentioned. The DZ was really only that backed up through the peak season, and only on Saturdays from 10:00 am till 3:00 pm, and only when it was a really pretty day. So, if I had a second airplane, it would sit 50% of the time on the days when the DZ was really busy, and 90+% of the time over all.
I compromised, and spent a bunch of money on the one airplane I have, speeding it up. We went from flying 16 to 18 loads a day, to doing up to 24. Those additional loads are for the most part going to the fun jumpers and progressing students, since our tandem business is limited by the number of instructors (two) on staff. So, still one airplane, one pilot, one to maintain, but considerable more lift capacity.
Also, the amount of fun jumper traffic is an eb and flow kind of thing. Right now it seems we have fewer fun jumpers, I blame it on all the carbon in the atmosphere. I'm doing my part though, trying to recycle all the beer and pop cans around the place. It may not help, but it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
AC DZ
QuoteSome years back, Roger Nelson found himself in a position of having a lotta 'spare' time on his hands.
Redirecting his entrepreneurial skills more exclusively toward his skydiving interests, Roger authored several papers regarding areas of the sport that were in need of improvement in order to keep pace with where he believed the whole thing was headed.
One such endeavor was an 'A to Z' soup & nuts business plan on how to start and grow a successful commercial drop-zone...
I've never seen one, but have heard about some of the things contained within. I understand it's a fantastic road-map for someone with the right combination of motivation and resources.
I guess it pretty much lays out the how to from ideal locations, property procurement, facilities design, creative aircraft financing...everything one needs to know.
From what I understand it was conceived long before the current SDC, and that drop-zone is built on the business plan blueprint.
Those who've been to Spaceland as well as skydive Chicago can easily recognise the similarities.
Don't know if it's still available of how useful it might be considering the current business environment, but interesting someone would actually address the business of commercial skydiving operations...AS a business!
Thank you! Very interested...especially in the "creative financing" department lol.
dninness 4
Quote
Tee!
Hee!
That reminds me of DZO Van Pray Senior.
One weekend his packing staff decided to strike for higher wages, so he packed all the student gear himself!
According to Jr, they all came back with their tails between their legs and went back to work ;)
D-19617, AFF-I '19
riggerrob 598
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We tease the local DZO that recycling beer can sis the only profitable part of his business!!!
QuoteQuoteand was again on a two hour wait. ..."
.....................................................................................................
No sympathy for that Neanderthal!
2 HOURS? Wow. What is the reason for this long a wait anyway
Exactly what others mentioned. The DZ was really only that backed up through the peak season, and only on Saturdays from 10:00 am till 3:00 pm, and only when it was a really pretty day. So, if I had a second airplane, it would sit 50% of the time on the days when the DZ was really busy, and 90+% of the time over all.
I compromised, and spent a bunch of money on the one airplane I have, speeding it up. We went from flying 16 to 18 loads a day, to doing up to 24. Those additional loads are for the most part going to the fun jumpers and progressing students, since our tandem business is limited by the number of instructors (two) on staff. So, still one airplane, one pilot, one to maintain, but considerable more lift capacity.
Also, the amount of fun jumper traffic is an eb and flow kind of thing. Right now it seems we have fewer fun jumpers, I blame it on all the carbon in the atmosphere. I'm doing my part though, trying to recycle all the beer and pop cans around the place. It may not help, but it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
I was really just kidding around. I am well aware of the stress and needs as I ran 2 DZ's back in the 70's. You can't please everyone as much as you try and I'm sure there were times when my customers waited more than 2 hours to get on a load even with 2 airplanes working.
There was an article years ago and I think it was in Parachutist. It was a synopsis of a guy who ran a drop zone. I still remember the title; "Money for Nothin and free jumps". The story concluded that nothing was farther from the truth.
QuoteYou can't please everyone as much as you try...
Believe me, I don't try. Manifesting tandems ahead, and if needed "bumping fun jumpers up", as opposed to pushing loads down is one thing we do. For the most part, we do a great job with the customers paying $200 a jump, and the "twenty three dollar guys", are on they're own.
A small drop zone can be profitable, believe me if my DZ were breaking even I'd have sold out years ago!
AC DZ
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