Helping a $1.5M Business That Runs on 30 Minutes a Day Scale — Transcript

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1. 0:00During COVID, I learned to fly
2. 0:02helicopters out of boredom and a coping
3. 0:04mechanism for my first company that went
4. 0:06bankrupt.
5. 0:06>> Heard.
6. 0:07>> Um
7. 0:08I liked it so much that we ended up I
8. 0:11ended up starting a a helicopter tour
9. 0:12business. So, we sell helicopter tours
10. 0:14to tourists and corporate groups in
11. 0:17Melbourne and Sydney. So, we've got two
12. 0:17locations.
13. 0:19At the moment, we're doing um a million
14. 0:21and a half in revenue and about 250 250
15. 0:24300k in profit.
16. 0:25>> Yeah.
17. 0:25>> Um
18. 0:26I've become somewhat um
19. 0:29I've removed myself from the business. I
20. 0:31work on it maybe half an hour an hour a
21. 0:32day.
22. 0:32>> Right.
23. 0:33>> Um and it's bought back my time, which I
24. 0:35really enjoy.
25. 0:36My personal ambition though is I'd
26. 0:37really love to run a company that's
27. 0:38doing at least half a billion in
28. 0:40revenue. So, 500 million is my personal
29. 0:41goal.
30. 0:42>> Okay.
31. 0:42>> Um what's stopping me is
32. 0:44actually something you said in one of
33. 0:45your videos, which was not all assets
34. 0:47are worth owning. And I feel like the
35. 0:49helicopter business is heavily
36. 0:51constrained. It's location-based. It's
37. 0:53niche. There is less than 1% recurring
38. 0:55customer revenue cuz it's ticking the
39. 0:57box experience.
40. 0:57>> Cool.
41. 0:58>> Um and so, I am conflicted as to whether
42. 1:02I pursue the lady in the red dress and
43. 1:04tap into an opportunity that would allow
44. 1:05me
45. 1:06>> Yeah.
46. 1:06>> to do 10x
47. 1:08the same effort and input that I would
48. 1:09put in the helicopter business.
49. 1:11>> Yeah.
50. 1:11Well, um
51. 1:13in this particular situation, I actually
52. 1:14think it's pretty straightforward. So,
53. 1:20you could do $500 million a year if you
54. 1:23said I want to go global with my
55. 1:24helicopter touring business cuz I have a
56. 1:25superior acquisition model compared to
57. 1:27other, you know, ragtag tourist groups
58. 1:29of a dude with a helicopter in Vegas.
59. 1:31They are they exist.
60. 1:32>> a lot of them.
61. 1:33>> Yeah, yeah. Right. Did you take a ride
62. 1:34on one of these ones just to get the
63. 1:36>> I'm flying in the Grand Canyon on
64. 1:36Thursday, actually.
65. 1:37>> Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think it
66. 1:38starts at 2,500 or 5 grand. It's it's
67. 1:40not cheap.
68. 1:40>> Uh it's cheap when you're a pilot and
69. 1:41you rent the machine, but yeah, it's
70. 1:43expensive.
71. 1:43>> Yeah, for the tourists, yeah.
72. 1:44>> Yeah.
73. 1:45>> So, um
74. 1:46so, I guess question one is
75. 1:50what I just described, I think could get
76. 1:51to $500 million a year. The question is
77. 1:53do you want to build that?
78. 1:54>> No.
79. 1:55>> Okay. Well, then if you don't want to
80. 1:56build it, then I don't see it as a one
81. 1:57to address. You just like
82. 1:59you know, you you you're deciding to not
83. 2:02get married to a girl that you're
84. 2:03dating.
85. 2:06Yeah, you're like she has different she
86. 2:08doesn't want to have kids, I want to
87. 2:09have kids, and so
88. 2:11that's why it's a non-negotiable.
89. 2:12>> Right.
90. 2:13>> And so I think as soon as you determine
91. 2:15that this isn't going to get you like if
92. 2:16the ultimate version of this business
93. 2:18isn't what you want to own,
94. 2:19then get out tomorrow.
95. 2:21>> Yeah.
96. 2:21>> Obviously, you have your own, you know,
97. 2:22financial needs and whatnot, but like I
98. 2:24would make my exit plan and build the
99. 2:25business that I would want to own and
100. 2:27see a a future version of it. Now, the
101. 2:29nice thing I will say this just to give
102. 2:31you a little give your own business a
103. 2:32little kudos is that it's super AI
104. 2:34proof.
105. 2:35It's not going anywhere. People are
106. 2:36going to keep visiting parts of the
107. 2:37world all the time and
108. 2:39like I mean, you might get robo
109. 2:40helicopter people, uh you know, robo
110. 2:42tourists, but like you could invest in
111. 2:44that. So, like you would you I don't
112. 2:45think the demand for the service will go
113. 2:47away. I think the way you deliver it
114. 2:48might change. So, from an enduring
115. 2:49perspective, I kind of like the
116. 2:50business. Um
117. 2:53so I just say that as a little bit of a
118. 2:54hedge, but
119. 2:56I don't want to get into what do you
120. 2:57want to do next because that would be a
121. 2:58much longer conversation.
122. 2:59>> No, no, I think you've helped me help me
123. 3:00clarify. I guess the business I've got
124. 3:02now is sort of running mostly without
125. 3:05me.
126. 3:05>> Sure.
127. 3:06>> Um
128. 3:07I have serviced the market to see people
129. 3:08would want to buy it.
130. 3:09>> Yeah.
131. 3:10>> just so niche um that
132. 3:12>> people would buy it.
133. 3:12>> It's I mean, I've been trying for 6
134. 3:14months and there's just no there hasn't
135. 3:15been any feedback that people want to
136. 3:17move into that market and acquire an
137. 3:18existing operator.
138. 3:19>> Sure.
139. 3:19>> So, what would I do with it?
140. 3:22>> Well, you can shut it down.
141. 3:24You can sell it to employees.
142. 3:26Uh which is a really wonderful way of
143. 3:27exiting a business.
144. 3:28>> So, I am the only employee, so
145. 3:30>> So, you're the one doing the
146. 3:30helicoptering?
147. 3:31>> Well, actually, when we start
148. 3:33>> only working 30 minutes a day on this
149. 3:34thing if you're doing Yeah, hold on.
150. 3:36>> So, when we started, I bought a
151. 3:38helicopter and then I started flying. I
152. 3:39was doing customer service and
153. 3:40marketing, doing everything, and we
154. 3:42didn't make any money for the first 2
155. 3:43years. We lost 50 grand the first year,
156. 3:4530 grand the second year.
157. 3:46>> Cool.
158. 3:47>> I sold all the machines. I I fired all
159. 3:50of our pilots.
160. 3:51And now we have no aircraft and we just
161. 3:53sell unused capacity. So we basically
162. 3:54cross hire machines and we have pilots
163. 3:56that work as contractors. And then last
164. 3:58year we did 250k in profit. So it was
165. 4:00the first year that we were profitable
166. 4:01and I didn't have to work full time.
167. 4:03>> But you still fly.
168. 4:05>> No.
169. 4:05>> Oh wait, okay. So
170. 4:08>> See if I
171. 4:09>> Where do I start here? Hold on.
172. 4:14Wait, what?
173. 4:15>> [laughter]
174. 4:16>> So I I literally sold the aircraft and I
175. 4:18stopped flying full time and that was
176. 4:19the first year we became profitable.
177. 4:21>> Right. So I was saying you could sell to
178. 4:22your employees.
179. 4:23>> There are none.
180. 4:24>> Okay. Here that's where I was. Okay.
181. 4:26>> Okay, yeah.
182. 4:27>> So
183. 4:28you're not flying the planes.
184. 4:29>> No.
185. 4:31>> Who's
186. 4:31>> Think of this like a a private
187. 4:32helicopter broker. That's what we
188. 4:34pivoted to.
189. 4:35>> So you
190. 4:35>> So we don't own aircraft. We don't
191. 4:36employ pilots. We just resell unused
192. 4:39capacity.
193. 4:39>> Oh yeah, you're a broker.
194. 4:40>> And that's actually profitable.
195. 4:42>> Yeah, you're just
196. 4:42>> And I don't have to work.
197. 4:43>> Yeah. Well, you sell, right? That's
198. 4:45basically
199. 4:45>> I just sell, exactly.
200. 4:46>> Okay. Got it.
201. 4:47>> But it's set But it's set up to run
202. 4:48itself except that the hour a day that I
203. 4:50do need to be involved.
204. 4:51>> Yeah, so you do lead gen to sales.
205. 4:53>> I I just maintain the machine. So
206. 4:55escalations and just um running
207. 4:57>> you don't actually mean the machine, you
208. 4:59mean the
209. 4:59>> No no the the black box that I built.
210. 5:01The business. Yeah yeah no no.
211. 5:02>> Yeah yeah, we're going
212. 5:03>> No, don't have a red.
213. 5:04>> No, this has been the clearest
214. 5:05conversation I've had in a long time.
215. 5:06>> [laughter]
216. 5:07>> So
217. 5:10So
218. 5:10>> You can imagine how clear it is in my
219. 5:11mind.
220. 5:12>> Yeah yeah, right.
221. 5:12>> Yeah.
222. 5:13>> So you've got Okay. So you're a broker
223. 5:15and you have a way of generating leads
224. 5:17and closing the deals. That's what you
225. 5:18have
226. 5:19>> set up. Okay. So um
227. 5:22Yeah, I mean you you basically have like
228. 5:24a a solo you're a you're a solo
229. 5:26salesman, basically. That's the kind of
230. 5:28how it operates right now and so
231. 5:30to that degree it's not a business
232. 5:31business. Um if you get somebody else to
233. 5:33do the sales for you, then you'd have
234. 5:35something. But again, if you let
235. 5:36somebody do the sales for you, then you
236. 5:38could just sell to them.
237. 5:39>> Well, that's on autopilot. So we have
238. 5:40organic and I have a customer service
239. 5:42person takes the calls and closes the
240. 5:43deals.
241. 5:44>> Who doesn't work for you?
242. 5:45>> Contractor.
243. 5:46>> Well, yeah duh duh come
244. 5:48>> I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
245. 5:49Sorry.
246. 5:50>> Two contractors, one marketing, one
247. 5:51customer [laughter] service. Yes.
248. 5:55>> So
249. 5:55>> you.
250. 5:56>> Yeah, I know. I know.
251. 5:57>> [laughter]
252. 5:57>> So
253. 5:59Okay, so the business has a limited
254. 6:00value, fine. And so it's just what do
255. 6:02you want to do? Like you you don't have
256. 6:03to start something like
257. 6:05you can
258. 6:06Yeah, you'll have to start something
259. 6:07else.
260. 6:07>> Yep.
261. 6:08>> Uh and you can wind this down.
262. 6:10>> Just let it die.
263. 6:11>> it to the contracted employees.
264. 6:13>> The virtual assistant in the Philippines
265. 6:15which is probably not going to want to
266. 6:16buy it.
267. 6:17>> No, really? Well, it depends on how much
268. 6:18money she makes. So, here's I mean
269. 6:20actually fun fact on this is that like
270. 6:21you could absolutely sell it to them and
271. 6:23you'd say cool, uh you just need to pay
272. 6:25me the profit for 2 years.
273. 6:29And then after the 2 years it's yours.
274. 6:31>> Right.
275. 6:31>> And I'll teach you what to do. Or if you
276. 6:33want to be super savvy about it, you can
277. 6:34say here's the deal, I'll give you half
278. 6:36the profit, never call me again.
279. 6:38>> Even better.
280. 6:39>> Yeah, and then you just keep your cash
281. 6:40flow.
282. 6:41>> Okay.
283. 6:43>> Like that's the deal. So when I have
284. 6:45these conversations I'd say here's how
285. 6:46it works.
286. 6:47Uh this is my phone and I'm going to
287. 6:49give you half the business and we're
288. 6:50going to seller finance it for now until
289. 6:52forever.
290. 6:53Uh and the deal is you get that half in
291. 6:55exchange for this not ringing.
292. 6:57And so let's play it out. So customer,
293. 7:00you know, slips and falls and has a
294. 7:02boo-boo, what do you do?
295. 7:04Every answer that's not call you is the
296. 7:05right answer.
297. 7:06>> Right.
298. 7:08>> And I I I literally do this at like
299. 7:10almost tongue-in-cheek with every time
300. 7:11I've had to have this conversation and
301. 7:13I'm like cool, let's role play another
302. 7:14one. Let's say the helicopter breaks
303. 7:16down in the middle of flight and
304. 7:17somebody has to come back early, what do
305. 7:18you do?
306. 7:18>> Not call me.
307. 7:19>> Not call me, right? Like dude, you're
308. 7:20crushing this. Let's do this another
309. 7:21one, right? Like
310. 7:22you keep doing it's like you got the
311. 7:23point and they're like yeah. And you're
312. 7:24like all right, so we're starting now,
313. 7:25we'll seller finance it
314. 7:27and then you can do whatever you need to
315. 7:28do.
316. 7:28>> And 50/50 they take the profits and then
317. 7:30I take the other half uh in exchange for
318. 7:32no time.
319. 7:33>> Yeah.
320. 7:34>> Cool. Thank you.
321. 7:34>> Yeah, you bet.
322. 7:35>> If you like this video and you're a
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334. 7:54enjoy.