Soar Aviation - Founder Neel Khokhani

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Soar Aviation - Founder Neel Khokhani
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One of the most unorthodox entries on this years
Smart50, Soar Aviation was founded in 2013 with
the goal of addressing the global shortage of
commercial pilots by offering training and
accreditation through a Victorian-based flight
school. Headed up by 28-year-old and sole
founder Neel Khokhani, Soar has experienced
astonishing growth of 586 over the past three
years, posting a revenue of over 12 million in
the last financial year. The founder believes the
business success can be largely attributed to
its more modern approach to flight training,
eschewing the more muscle car-like planes such
as Cessnas and Pipers for a fleet of 45 light
sports aircrafts, which contribute to lower fuel
costs and lower emissions.
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The innovative choice of aircraft means lower
operating costs savings which are passed on to
the consumer in the form of lower fees, meaning
Soar offers a training program over 30 cheaper
than comparable products on the market, Khokhani
says.Khokhani attributes running such a
successful business at a young age in part to his
own success, with the founder gaining his
commercial pilots licence at the age of 18. Soar
has also benefited from partnerships with
training organisations such as Box Hill Tafe,
which has helped the number of students jump from
just 10 in 2016 to over 500 in 2018.
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Soar Aviation has taken on no external funding
during its journey, with the founder starting the
business with just 5,000. In fact, Neel Khokani
believes giving away too much equity early on is
an easy trap for young entrepreneurs. However,
half of the business was recently sold to private
equity fund The Growth Fund, with Khokhani saying
the move brings him perceptibly closer to his
long-term goal of running his own airline.
When the time is right, my sights will be on
bringing further diversity to Soar Aviation by
setting up another pilot training organisation in
Queensland or Western Australia. While that
answer may not sound overly exciting, I believe
this is what the business requires, he says.
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Rome wasnt built in a day.
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Reference Link Neel Khokhani

• Neel Khokhani - Truly Successful Self-Made
  Entrepreneur
• Neel Khokhani Entrepreneur Soared Into
  Australias Young Rich List
• Know What Motivated Neel Khokhani to Chase His
  Dreams