A New Pilot and New Entrepreneur have a lot in common!

This week I was blessed to take flight with the owner of a company that was experiencing his first flight in a general aviation airplane. When the weather is good, the air is calm, and all systems are green there is almost no place I would rather be than sharing the exhilaration of flight. I was immediately transported back in time, vicariously rekindling the sense of excitement and anticipation of the freedom of flight.

As I reminisced on the day I decided to become a pilot, I travelled back in time to all the nights looking at airplane speeds and carrying capacities, contemplating the possibilities of business expansion due to a new level of geographic reach, and the utility of one day business trips.

After all the romanticizing I signed up for my first flight lesson. The first lesson did nothing to wane my enthusiasm as I got my hands on the controls for the first time - I was hooked!

After that lesson, reality set in, as my instructor and I laid out a plan to obtain my pilot license. How was going to fund it? How much time each week did I have to commit to study and training? What happens after I get my private pilot license? Will I plan to continue on for an instrument and commercial rating? Does your family support this decision?

Since that first flight I have completed my private pilot training, obtained an instrument rating, and even got a license to fly rotorcraft (helicopters). Each of those add-ons required me to go through the same set of questions.

It seems over the years of being a serial entrepreneur and consultant I have had to play the role of my flight instructor when meeting people that want to start a business.

Years ago, I had a client reach out to me that wanted to start a new business in the restaurant industry. When we met, I could tell the excitement was pumping through his veins. Once again, I can relate to the almost "irrational exuberance" of starting a new business.

However, this client wasn't prepared for me to ask him the tough questions, just as my first flight instructor had asked me. Once I ran financial projections and informed him that I believed he wasn't ready due to his funding and strategy, we quickly stopped working together. It was evident he hired me to confirm, not challenge, his roadmap for success. Unfortunately, this story has a tragic ending as that business lasted less than two years.

In flying, as in entrepreneurship, you need someone to ask you the tough questions. Flight instructors note approximately 80% of students quit before obtaining their private pilot license. Depending on what statistics you follow new businesses have a 50% failure rate by year five.

An entrepreneur, just as a pilot, can increase their chance of success by asking some basic questions:

1) How are you going to fund it?

2) What happens after you get opened and established?

3) Do your loved ones support you?

Once you have the basic questions answered then commit to becoming a success story, be the exception not the rule. Use that anticipatory exhilaration as a catalyst to overcome any limiters you may have, but don't let it blind you to the reality of your situation. If you can find this discipline, you can achieve your dreams in both business and pilotage.

Thank you for reading.

#blueskies #tailwinds #entrepreneurship