Cash Flow and Controlling Expenses—Managing Your Business
(Part 2 of a 3-Part Series: Planning a Successful 2012 FBO Business Strategy)

By John L. Enticknap, Aviation Business Strategies Group

 The buck stops with the guy who signs the checks.
                                                                —Rupert Murdoch 

In the first installment of this series, we discussed our FBO Business Outlook for 2012. At the recent NBAA Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference held in San Diego, we had a chance to discuss this outlook and the current business climate with a number of FBOs in attendance.

Many we talked to agreed with our forecast of a slow uptick of around 2.5 percent average industry growth in 2012, with some individual FBOs experiencing up to 5 percent growth or even possibly more.  We met a number of FBO owners and managers who indicated they were ahead of the 2.5 percent growth rate for 2011 and expect to do better than the 5 percent growth projection for 2012.  And of course, some indicated 2011 was a flat year and they didn’t expect to do much better for 2012.

For this installment, part two of our three-part series, we want to discuss ways FBOs can better manage and even decrease their costs in 2012.