Jet Aviation Sold to Permira Funds

Jet Aviation has announced that they have been sold, pending antitrust clearance, to the Permira Funds a leading international private equity specialist. Ending several years of speculation, the Zurich based operator of business jet services has finally accomplished what had long been expected: the sale of the Hirschmann family business to outsiders.

As early as 2000 the sale of Jet Aviation had been expected by employees as well as by industry insiders. Indeed, Jet Aviation management had been marketed openly throughout 2001 by Goldman Sachs, but the sale was cancelled when a suitable buyer was not found and the terrorist attacks put a further drag on an already downturning economy. Still, rumors of the sale of the company persisted and heated up recently with speculation that one of Warren Buffet's companies, i.e., Gulfstream Aerospace, may have been interested in the company's maintenance facilities.

Currently, Jet Aviation is a Zurich-based concern employing 3500 people worldwide. US operations remain strong with the bulk of the employees working out of Teterboro [NJ] Airport.

Even with the probable sale of the company to Permira, speculation is persisting as to what will become of the company after the sale is completed. Some industry leaders believe that the company is more valuable for its parts than as a single entity. Thus, parts of the company could be sold off and a scaled down Jet Aviation might remain in place. Areas of the company thought to be susceptible to a sale include:

1. US Maintenance Facilities. With prime locations at Bedford, Teterboro, West Palm Beach, and Dallas the American facilities are capable of providing expert airframe support to just about any type of business aircraft.

2. Completion Centers. Some or all of the company's award winning completion centers are thought to be highly marketable. From the Boeing BBJ to the Gulfstream 550, and to the Sikorsky S-70A aircraft delivered "green" to Jet Aviation facilities are outfitted with state of the art interiors.

3. FBOs. Jet Aviation's group of fixed based operations which provide domestic and international flight handling, line maintenance services, refueling, passenger and crew transportation, catering and hotel accommodations and immigration and customs services are an important asset for the company. Indeed, the Dubai facility -- Jet Aviation's newest FBO -- is considered by some to be unmatched in the industry.

4. Jet Professionals. Founded in 1983, Jet Professionals -- an aviation personnel service provider -- became part of Jet Aviation as part of the acquisition of K-C Aviation Transportation Services in 1996.

5. Aircraft Management. Over 160 aircraft worldwide are managed by Jet Aviation including more than 50 in the US alone. Many of these aircraft are also available for charter. US operations could be sold to Jet Aviation's strategic partner, New World Jet Corporation, a FAR Part 135 charter certificate operator.

The Power of Belief

There is no surer guarantee of personal or business success than the power of belief. But belief is not something that happens to you. It is a conscious choice you make and, when combined with knowledge of what you do best, it gives you unshakeable confidence and profound focus.

One of the key character traits of entrepreneurs is the power of belief grown from self-knowledge and the ability to understand the world of the problems they seek to solve. Entrepreneurs are no less risk-averse than anybody else. The difference is they choose their responses to the uncertainty of launching a new venture.

We all suffer crises of self-doubt. What the power of belief does for you is enable you to see that self-doubt is the state of being in unreality. The power of belief gives you the perspective you need to observe and accept the undependable future and so avoid getting lost when self-doubt rears its ugly head.

Cultivating the Power of Belief

The power of belief is not a blind choice. It's a choice informed through careful self-examination and assessment of what you do best. Granted, we are infused with beliefs of many kinds during our formative years. Yet as fully realized adults we have the opportunity to decide what we believe and in so doing be fed by the power of conscious choosing.

All factors being equal, successful human beings define for themselves what being successful means. They have the power to believe in their ability to handle whatever comes.

Ask yourself today what success means for you. Write about it. How does what you believe about success affect how you live, what you do, who you choose to work with?

What You Believe and What You Do Best

A recent study by the SBA Office of Advocacy reports that successful entrepreneurs have the ability to assess the problem opportunity in the marketplace and understand how that translates to potential demand. But what's significant about their legendary risk-seeking behavior is that it is driven by their unwavering belief in what they are trying to accomplish. It is the power of belief that, for them, minimizes the risk in any endeavor.

Thomas Alva Edison was a tireless investigator. He had a broad background in applied science and he persevered even in the face of apparent setbacks. He had a strong, conscious belief in himself that enabled him to weather what others would consider to be career-ending failures. The point of his life was to follow a course until he found success. Not until he hit a stumbling block. Not until failure stopped him. He followed every idea through until it evolved into a solution that worked for real-world problems.

You can never be sure of results. The only sure thing is your power to choose. Making conscious choices means believing you can exert the effort required to succeed in a given venture. It is imperative for your success that you trust the creative process and be open to the possibility in every apparent misstep or supposed failure.

Taking the power of belief and aiming it through the knowledge of what you do best focuses you naturally on those problems you are best equipped to solve.

Take the steps today to get clear about what you believe and what you do best. Then use the power of belief combined with what you do best to focus yourself on the success you deserve.

Your Unique Advantage

You have a unique advantage, an edge no one else has. When you put that unique advantage to work for you -- when you take the
time to develop it as you would strengthen a muscle -- you get something that reduces perceived risk and triples your chances
for success.

That something is called Informed Confidence.

In fact, research in progress by the SBA Office of Advocacy shows that confidence is the number
one success factor when starting any new venture. But confidence alone is not enough. You need the kind of confidence you get only
by doing the footwork.

How do you turn your unique advantage into the edge called Informed Confidence? You do it by identifying your unique value
and assessing opportunities that allow you to put that unique value to use in service to your ideal customers.

Identifying Your Unique Value

Your unique value is a combination of your chosen principles and the thing you do best. Defining your principles requires you to
examine your goals. It forces you to examine your personal beliefs about money, people, reciprocity, relationships, and
time.

Knowing what you do best takes more insight than most people realize. Yet what you do best can be easy to identify if you'll
ask yourself these questions:

• To what sort of problems or situations am I most attracted?
• What sort of problems or situations are most attracted to me?

One of the best ways to work out the answers to these questions is to free-write your answers. That is, sit down and let your
mind rest on each question for a moment, then starting writing about it as quickly as you can without judgment or editing. You
can also draw mind maps of the answers, or sketch an image of those answers. Use any technique that feels comfortable for you.

No matter what technique you use, you'll find that if you trust the process you'll get results -- some of which you may not have
expected.

Assessing Opportunities

Once you identify your unique value and have articulated the sorts of problems you're naturally inclined to solve, study the
problems. Become a student of them and an observer of the people who have them. Be open to where your unique value can help solve
problems -- and identify facets of the problem that may require application of unique value you yourself do *not* possess. Then
either find others who possess those unique values or develop the skills required to deliver additional value yourself.

For example, your unique value might lie in identifying market opportunities. Perhaps you're a little weak on the specification
side, however, so you might decide to partner with someone who is skilled at translating vision into clear marketing
specifications.

Your Informed Confidence

Once you are able to perceive opportunities from the perspective of your unique value as seen through the eyes of your ideal
customers, you have developed a level of Informed Confidence. The more you observe and refine your understanding, the deeper that
confidence becomes.

Your unique advantage is the union of your perception of the problem and the special perspective you bring to solving it.
Bring that union into play in relationship with your customers, and you'll find that they will find their own unique advantage.