It's the middle of August 2009. The health care debate rages, the deficit is exploding and the cap and trade bill is awaiting its turn in the senate. "Wait one minute!" you say? "Isn't this about flying helicopter tours over the Smokies?" Well, yes it is. But with this entry being about the future, I find it fitting to discuss issues on a broader scale. None of us live in a totally independent world, isolated from the impact of our political leaders. So, the point I am making is that there are many uncertainties that could dramatically influence the outcome of our future plans for expansion.
With that being said, I am optimistic about the future of our company's expansion, as well as, for the growth of both my team and myself with the challenges ahead. Scenic has seen an increase in business from last year and is experiencing great momentum in our guests' experience from their feedback. Word of mouth has always been a cornerstone of our marketing. We are totally focused on our guests' perception of their experience and sometimes that is not so easy, but as my dad would say, "The things that really matter are rarely easy!" and "A person's perception is their reality!". You only need to look at the testimonial page of our website to see what our service means to people. If you think it's just a helicopter ride, you would be mistaken. We broaden people's horizon's, both literally and figuratively and we inspire them to dream about things beyond what they may currently feel are possible. At least, that is our hope!
OK, so enough rambling! ... Scenic's future is filled with opportunities for our team and our guests. In the next several months Scenic will be expanding. Internally first, through our constant development of better ways to do business and externally, through offering new services for our guests and opportunities for partnerships with Scenic. By year's end we expect to have acquired an expanded charter certificate allowing more pilots and aircraft to perform air taxi services. We also expect to have plans finalized to refurbish and remodel our heliport. This will allow more parking, help with the "flow" of our operations and will greatly modernize our facility. We are also planning on upgrading our fleet with a new ECO Star helicopter by the summer of 2010. This helicopter was specifically made for sightseeing tours and offers a great view for all passengers and is very quiet both inside and out. And finally we will begin our nationwide expansion of Scenic's operations during 2010. We are currently looking for qualified managing partners to assist in these expansion plans.
So, the near future will be busy, but what about long term? Well, we are hoping to continue to expand our operations until we get at least seven new operations nationally, then we will turn our focus globally. As we have just changed our corporate name to Whirl'd Helicopters, Inc. and this has several deeper meanings, but the similarity with the word world isn't totally coincidence. We believe the level of guest astonishment we achieve at our location here can be replicated at other tourist destinations. Our goal is to expand into 11 new locations across the country and around the world by 2020.
These new operations would each have a managing partner that would oversee it. These managing partners would be part owners in these operations with Scenic and would benefit from support from the headquarters here. Each operation would have the buying power of a larger company with multiple locations, but would still have the small business feel. We believe that is critical in best serving our guests. Each team member would have the ability to contribute to the constant improvement Scenic seeks. Instead of being a top down dictatorial type of systemic development it will be more organic, grass roots from the people directly dealing with our guests type of development.
The cost to get into a helicopter business will not necessarily by reduced, but the odds of succeeding in a helicopter operation will be greatly shifted in favor of these managing partners. By having the know how, certification and buying power far beyond that of an ordinary start up helicopter business it is very similar to a franchise without being tied into a franchise. If a managing partner doesn't want to continue, they can opt out and be replaced for minimal loss. You cannot do that with a regular start up operation.
We will be holding a meeting that will be more clearly laying out the future possibilities in November. For more info on that contact me at dan@scenichelicoptertours.com
These new operations would each have a managing partner that would oversee it. These managing partners would be part owners in these operations with Scenic and would benefit from support from the headquarters here. Each operation would have the buying power of a larger company with multiple locations, but would still have the small business feel. We believe that is critical in best serving our guests. Each team member would have the ability to contribute to the constant improvement Scenic seeks. Instead of being a top down dictatorial type of systemic development it will be more organic, grass roots from the people directly dealing with our guests type of development.
The cost to get into a helicopter business will not necessarily by reduced, but the odds of succeeding in a helicopter operation will be greatly shifted in favor of these managing partners. By having the know how, certification and buying power far beyond that of an ordinary start up helicopter business it is very similar to a franchise without being tied into a franchise. If a managing partner doesn't want to continue, they can opt out and be replaced for minimal loss. You cannot do that with a regular start up operation.
We will be holding a meeting that will be more clearly laying out the future possibilities in November. For more info on that contact me at dan@scenichelicoptertours.com
