The Story Of A Self-Made Entrepreneur- Neel Khokhani

 A high-flying entrepreneur from an aviation school has made it onto Australia's Young Rich List. Neel Khokhani was 22 years old and an ambitious, smart-thinking young instructor. He told his boss that his aircraft fleet could have been better. He had just $5000 to save and crowdfunded his first plane purchase by selling discounted lessons on the group-buying site Scoop on.

 

In just one day, he sold $180,000 worth of vouchers. This was enough to buy his first plane and start his flying school in Melbourne. Neel Khokhani made Australia's Young Rich List debut. Eight years later, Soar Aviation has grown to be Australia's largest flying school, with 67 aircraft and three campuses in Melbourne, Sydney, and Bendigo. It also boasts more than 500 students, including Charles Kingsford Smith, the great-great-nephew.

 

Khokhani is now 30 and has amassed a fortune of $66million. He was deservedly placed 51st on Australia's Young Rich List. Khokhani, originally from India, arrived in Australia at 16 to pursue his dream of becoming a pilot. He learned to fly at Sydney's Bankstown Airport as a teenager before he could even drive.

 

Daily Mail Australia: "I was fascinated by Richard Branson when I was a boy and wanted to start a company," he said. "But it's not something you can teach a 12-year-old, so I decided to learn how to fly first. I was a bit geeky, so I skipped some classes to finish high school at 15. "I arrived in Australia at 16 with my parents to study aeronautics. I had received my pilot license by the time I turned 18.

 

As a 22-year-old, Neel founded Soar Aviation. It is Australia's largest flying school. After hearing about European aircraft that were smaller and cheaper, the young instructor began to question his boss about his plans for the planes. Khokhani recalls that he used to meet up with Khokhani every Friday night for a beer, and then one night, I decided to give him some ideas on how to run his business.

 

He took it very personally and said, "If you think you can run an airplane school better than I, then you should go and start one." "At 22 years old, with $5000 of savings, I was scared, nervous, and shocked at the prospect of having to provide for myself. It turned out to be a great thing, and I haven't looked back.

 

Soar Aviation's success started when customers who had previously been with us for lessons returned. The company partnered with Box Hill Institute in 2016 to offer weekend theory and evening lessons to help address the worldwide shortage of pilots. The growth of flying schools has been rapid since then. It is now close to a turnover of over $20 million. Khokhani admitted that it was difficult to keep up with the success of his aviation school and deal with bureaucracy in his industry.

 

He told daily Mail Australia that he learned the most important lesson in his eight-year career: never to give up. "There were many times when I felt depressed and lost. My wife and I had numerous discussions about how difficult it was. I have learned that success comes with every difficult time.