What does it take to scale a business that is capital-intensive and has high barriers to entry?
Our guest, co-Founder of the Black-owned global private jet charter company Approved Jets, and venture capitalist Aaron Wilson, shares invaluable insights from his journey as a serial entrepreneur in the aviation industry as well as essential strategies that have helped Approved Jets gross eight figures in revenue in its first 3 years.
Join us as we discuss the elements behind the success of Approved Jets, as well as Aaron’s tips to help entrepreneurs navigate the challenges of scaling a business. No matter what industry you’re in, this episode will give you valuable insights for any wealth builder interested in entrepreneurship, positioning their business to attract investors, or investing in other businesses.
In this episode, we discuss:
- Business scaling do’s and don’ts
- The private jet charter industry and what it takes to succeed
- How to stay top of mind when it comes to potential customers
- Relationships and High-Frequency Transactions: conducting high-frequency transactions to maintain healthy cash flow.
- What to look for as an investor
- How to position your company to attract investors
- Exceptional Service vs. Customer Acquisition Costs
- Continuous learning
- Customer Acquisition Costs as the Ultimate KPI: the significance of tracking customer acquisition costs (CAC) as a paramount key performance indicator and why
- The critical relationship between profit margins and CAC
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TOPICS:
- Introduction of Dreamer Aaron Wilson [1:13]
- The origin story of Approved Jets [05:00]
- Focusing on relationships and high frequency transactions for cash flow [5:31]
- Customer acquisition costs as the most important KPI [6:27]
- Value proposition as the key differentiating factor [7:27]
- Learning about the industry and understand the business [8:48]
- Focusing on the market share vs. the bottom line [9:14]
- Being top of mind for your customer or market space [14:47]
- High-Level Investing vs. Venture Capitalism [19:00]
- Privacy and trust are key when working with high net worth individuals [23:05]
- A Strong Founder as a Cornerstone of Every Strong Investment [27:23]
- Rapid Fire Questions [32:11]
Dreamers’ Wealth of Wisdom:
- “At the end of the day, your customer acquisition costs have to make sense, because if your CAC is way too high, and your profit margins aren’t large enough, you’re never even going to turn a profit, nor will you even break even.” – Aaron Wilson
- “If you don’t have some kind of value proposition, that’s a key differentiating factor between you and your prospective competitors. When you’re entering that market, you’ll die immediately. Your business won’t even stand a chance. ” – Aaron Wilson
- “We made up for our lower profit margins by having no customer acquisition costs. Because the service was exemplary” – Aaron Wilson
- “I’ve been in sales for 10 years now. And, if you’re not top of mind, you’re dead. I mean that in the nicest way possible.” — Aaron Wilson
- “A wealthy life is being able to give back.” – Aaron Wilson
Mentioned on the Show:
Show Transcript:
About the Guest:
Aaron Wilson is a serial entrepreneur who has leveraged his hard skills and sharp business acumen to blaze a trail in an array of industries. He received his bachelor’s degree in business from the Binghamton University School of Management (known as one of the top business programs in New York State) and spent the first few years of his post-undergrad career in finance at JP Morgan Chase & Co.
After a few years in finance, Aaron transitioned into human capital consulting & recruiting with the hopes of making a move into a more dynamic industry. During his time in the executive search, human capital & recruiting space.