Victor – the ‘Real Deal’

Our rapid progress has frightened the market and, as I blog this, Victor has just smashed its monthly revenue record. If you can deliver a new, truly disruptive value proposition quickly and effectively, then your expectations go beyond 10 or 20% growth – 2016 is about hyper growth.

As a digital disruptor, one’s success is measured in the scale and speed one is able to gain market share. Typical disruptors will need to break through the first hurdle of sustaining a doubling of transactional revenues, and thereafter trebling revenues each year. As new entrants enter the market by copying your model, which is common for digital businesses, you have to increase growth trajectory and continue to innovate as the benchmark will be whether you can significantly outperform your peer group. Victor has managed to catch up our nearest online competitor, in almost half the time that they’ve been in business and, having examined the ‘year-end’ numbers, outpacing their performance by generating almost twice the booking revenues. So trajectory and turnover are the true measures of success.

The online copyists have continued to bombard potential fliers with ‘offers’ this summer, throwing vast amounts of money at special deals and promotions that look too good to be true. Fliers should be wary when these ‘all you can eat’ membership schemes offer such seemingly low pricing in return for their upfront fees – are these companies really thinking about how to build a sustainable customer base?

With Victor, we’ve shown we can disrupt, engage new customers and retain them – our model is free to use and free to choose, what with no need to commit to any upfront monies, annual subscriptions or joining fees. There are no gimmicks. We offer complete transparency, the widest choice of aircraft and a great customer experience, via our iOS app, website, and highly trained, 24-7, global customer service team. We’ve made significant investment in our underlying technology so we can transact at a lower cost than our off-line competitors. But we also focus on delivering exemplary customer service and the widest range of best value, ‘on demand’ flying options – our customers are free to tailor their perfect travel, where, when, how and with whom they want. They are not shackled by the limited ‘shuttle’ runs at pre-determined times that others talk so loudly about.

As I have spoken about before now, Victor’s strategy has been very well thought out. We have a sustainable, exciting business plan and a talented management team to see it through. We invest in the smartest technology alongside the smartest people – our unique blend of hi-tech and high-touch ensures we stand out in our field.

Not only ‘stand out’ but become the fastest-growing ‘on demand’ private jet marketplace in Europe. We’re still the only provider of side-by-side charter comparisons, our quotations providing a clear breakdown of costs whilst detailing the specific aircraft (including age and tail number), aircraft layout, operator details, and insurance (along with the operator’s air safety certification). All this builds trust in Victor and puts customers in control, allowing them to make a truly informed decision about what they need.

We are currently seeking an expanded investor base to continue our robust growth. We will use our next round of funding to further scale within our core European and US markets. We plan to further enhance the innovative smart technology platform that uniquely drives Victor’s jet charter model, and further develop Victor’s customer teams and functions. It’s all systems go.

People often approach me, as a successful serial entrepreneur, about how best to launch their own ‘start-up’ ideas. I always tell them to be brutally realistic about the size of the opportunity they are weighing up – get real about the size of the addressable market, what their take on it is going to be and how they are going to achieve it. Most start-ups get carried away with how clever they think they are or how cool their tech is going to be. Armed with fresh funding they often demonstrate poor judgment in providing their services for free or at low cost, and then continually pivot, as they scrabble for a sustainable business model to justify the investment. Sadly, they end up losing sight of basic enterprise fundamentals.

The private jet space is full of such bluster. Whilst ‘all you can eat’ has become something of a charter buzz word this summer, the pitfalls are clear to see. Earlier this week, Conde Nast Traveler reminded us once again about ‘several brash upstarts’ that have ‘gone bust this year’. Victor is an altogether different proposition, built on a sturdy platform to deliver truly liberating travel experiences for serious fliers. Buoyed by our fantastic July performance we remain fully on course for a fantastic year.

Clive Jackson, CEO & founder of Victor