What’s your time worth?
I hate that question. Actually, no, I hate what it makes me think about. Am I short on time? Yes, we are all short on time. It’s like musical chairs. Everybody knows at some point the music stops playing, but nobody knows when. So we all make decisions based on this uncertainty. Eat your veggies, get a good night’s sleep, invest with the long view, but you know, not too long.
Work, family, friends—make a difference, make a buck, or make memories? You get to decide. Allow me to ask two related questions: What would you do if I gave you five extra hours each week? What would you do if I gave you five extra work hours each week? Sure, one question comes with a constraint, but in meaning, they are different questions because you’ve already established the work/life balance best for you, with whatever flexibility you have.
So why do I ask these questions?
I want you to recognize that getting more done doesn’t have to assault your work/life balance. I promote cost-effective private aviation because it directly improves your professional productivity equation of work divided by time. If you fly for business 30 times per year (yes, that’s 0.5769 trips per week), private aviation can conservatively save you an average of four hours per week (208 hours per year). And that is time saved from what you’ve already allocated to your enterprise.
Having narrowed the questions, what is that 208 hours per year worth to your enterprise, if the time it saves you is cut from the inflexibility, groping, and hassle of commercial airline travel? If you travel to grow your business and your value-add to your enterprise is greater than $1,000 per hour, private aviation starts to pencil out—it’s time to take a closer look.
Oh, and the all time dumbest question, ever? “What’s your budget?” (Seriously, budget? I’m not driven by budget, I’m driven by value. Sure, I have my top dollar I’ll pay, but that’s my little secret.) The third dumbest question of all time: “Why don’t you know?”
“Once you’ve flown [privately], returning to commercial flights is like going back to holding hands.” – Warren Buffett, Berkshire Letters 2006