I was just wondering with the exception of free fuel, free flying, blonde 25 year olds pumping your fuel, free beer and spitfires for hire, what do people think are the important things to get right and what are the ingredients to a really good flying school/ club.
You got that about right, except for one thing: the 25 year olds need to be female, size 8
I think the one thing most/all schools/clubs do wrong is to push out experienced pilots, because they don't spend money there anymore, undermine the authority of the ever-wise instructors, and most likely divert the students' precious cash into their own PPL cost sharing arrangements.
If you can provide facilities/activities (flight planning, fly-outs, etc) where
ex customers like that can participate, with their own aircraft perhaps, you will end up with a dynamic environment, rather than the sterile scenario found in most places.
And I am talking about the actual place of business, not the cafe next door where these people might hang out.
The problem is that the above runs counter to the usual business model which is to sell maximum hours, with an instructor in the RHS if possible.
You could also try charging less for ground running time (
after the initial brakes-off moment). I know that going to "dry" is complicated but having punters paying £150/hr or whatever while they are waiting at the hold is inviting various kinds of bad behaviour, which I see every time I fly.